Twelve Hills
by Umeko
Summary: Kinta is approached by a former classmate for help. Our heroes find themselves in a town controlled by the powerful Sohma clan. Will they find Uotani's missing boyfriend before it is too late? Or will a sudden death complicate matters?
1. Country Road

Disclaimer: All the Detective School Q and Fruit Basket characters belong to their respective creators. Slight AU and OOCness.

Akito is male for the purpose of this fic and there is no curse. The Fruit Basket characters will be a lot darker than in the actual series. The Sohma family is going to be very dysfunctional, I mean it. No Honda Tohru in this. I can't turn her nasty, no matter how I try.

This fic is set after the manga canon but before the Hell's Concerto arc.

**Chapter 1- Country Road**

Toyama Kintaro was rushing a ramen delivery when his scooter hit another scooter in a narrow alley. "Hey! Watch where you are going, buster!" Kinta yelled. The other rider retorted with an unprintable curse word and showed him the finger. "You punk!" Kinta cursed. Their front wheels were buckled together and both riders were stuck. Kinta removed his helmet and the other rider did the same.

"Kinta-kun?" A cascade of blond hair fell onto the shoulders of the lanky scooter rider. "Uotani Arisa?" Kinta recognized his old classmate, and promptly caught the punch she threw his way.

"Whoa! I see you are still training!" Kinta laughed. Arisa smiled. "It has been a while, hasn't it, Kinta-kun…" She tugged at her scooter and he tugged at his. "Well, guess we have to get a mechanic to untangle this mess," Kinta whistled. Their vehicles were smashed up good.

"Isn't that ramen you need to deliver?" Arisa pointed at the carrier on Kinta's scooter. "Right, just wait a sec. I'll send it up two blocks and come back for my scoter," Kinta slapped his head. "I know a good mechanic three blocks that way… Yokoma's. Meet you there…" Arisa smiled and wheeled both entangled scooters in the opposite direction. "Man, she's as tough as ever…" Kinta remarked under his breath. Those scooters were heavy, but his former classmate was strong. Tall, hot-tempered and with a bat-swing that could make the Yankees proud, she was a typical tomboy who spent her summers playing baseball with the boys in her elementary school.

Kinta allowed himself to admire the young lady she had blossomed into. Not much curves, though her figure was definitely female. Her face was plain and without makeup, but her blond hair was silky. She wore long skirts and Kinta wondered how those long legs would look like under a mini. Sister material, yes. Girlfriend material, no. She towered over him by a good four inches. Kinta preferred his women on the petite side.

A few hours later, both friends were sitting on an overhead bridge drinking from soda cans. Underneath, the vehicles rumbled on the expressway. "What brings you to Tokyo? I never thought I would see you after you moved back to your father's hometown," Kinta asked. Arisa ran a hand through her hair. "It's a long story… Look, I don't want to talk about it. I'm now helping my aunt at her store. Don't you have school or something?"

"Na, DDS is off today…" Kinta gulped his soda. "DDS, as in that famous Detective Dan's School for training detectives? Gosh, maybe you can help me!" Arisa grabbed his arm.

"What's up?" Kinta asked.

"Well, I have some problems back home…"

"Whoa! My pad is small and a pig-sty. Even if I could let you stay, we'll have to answer to your old man…" Kinta protested. Arisa bopped him in the gut. "Moron! I'm not cohabiting with you… I'm talking of what got me kicked out of Juniyama High School. And what happened to him… They must have done something to him because we were seeing each other and he knew I was innocent. Look, Kureno's too honest to just take off like that." She was almost in tears.

"Maybe you could come with me to DDS… Dan-sensei may be able to help…" Kinta awkwardly offered her his hanky. It was unsettling to see his friend cry. Arisa was a strong girl, had always been since they were in school.

So that was how three members of Class Q found themselves in a small town in northern Japan…

* * *

"Dan-sensei, do you think it is wise to send them out there alone?" Nanami asked. Perhaps it was too soon after the final showdown with Pluto. Dan nodded. "It is time that they went out on their own."

"We're sending them out on a regular case. Utoni Arisa, a known problem student based on her school records. She was expelled from the town's only high school for theft," Katagiri consulted her notes. "Details of the incident are sketchy but she was involved in a relationship with a trainee teacher, Sohma Kureno. Sohma left town for further studies, so his family claims. Uotani Arisa came from a low income family. Her father's a fishmonger. In all likelihood, the theft was an excuse to expel a possible embarrassment. The most powerful family in the town is the Sohma. The schools, hospitals and most of the stores and facilities are tied to them in some way."

"Toyama should be able to handle this case with Kyu and Ryu's help," Hougou added.

"It's a pity Minami has to go to Switzerland to join her parents and Narusawa has to stay here and provide IT support to Class A on that insurance fraud case. It would be good to let them go on a case together…" Dan smiled. "This'll be more like a vacation for them, a chance for Kinta to help out a friend. We don't expect any payment from Uotani for this."

* * *

"Wow, the maple leaves have turned here already. Ryu, pass me the camera!" Kyu said and pointed out the window of the train. Ryu obligingly passed it to him. Kyu happily snapped away. Kinta and Arisa had loads of catching up to do. The pair was sitting off to the side of the carriage chatting. The train was almost empty as it was off-season.

"So you were dating your teacher?"

"Actually, he was a trainee teacher," Uotani toyed with a lock of her hair. "We weren't exactly showing off. We kept it quiet. But it's a small town and news got around. I think that was why they told me to leave the school."

She looked at Kinta straight in the eye. "I love him, Kinta. And I am not sorry for that. He would never just up and leave without telling me. I'm afraid they did something to stop him from seeing me…"

"How long was it since you last saw him?"

"It should be last month, just after I was expelled over that theft. He had to leave the school then, they said it was the end of his contract… I would say three weeks ago…" Arisa frowned as she tried to recall. "I tried calling at his place but they keep telling me that he doesn't want to see me. He stopped showing up, even at that bookstore where he normally goes to buy his books. He stopped taking his evening walks… I am afraid… Sohma Akito's temper…"

"Whoa, who's this Akito now? Some-love rival?" Kinta asked. Arisa whacked him on the head with a tourist brochure map. "Love-rival? Master Akito's the meanest guy in town. He's the head of the Sohma household and his word's law. Almost the entire town's owned by the Sohmas. I bet he was the one who asked the school to expel me and fire Kureno. They say he's so mean, he has his own ma locked up somewhere in their mansion."

"Wow, that's mean…" Kinta rubbed his head.

"Not only that… they whisper that he shoved a cousin off the third floor once, and he crippled another who could have made the Olympics team. Akito's the nastiest piece of work and was so since he was a kid. He's not much older than us, but he's the clan leader. The elders let him have his way because they couldn't be bothered, just so long as he doesn't screw up their profits. The Sohmas own almost everything in town."

**Author's Notes: **

Uotani Arisa – the 'bad girl' friend to the series' heroine in Fruit Basket. She has some mutual attraction with Kureno.

Sohma Kureno – the series' Rooster in the Zodiac. He is rather mild and gentle character, the type open to getting bullied.

In the last chapter of the manga, Detective Dan dies shortly after he entrusts his badge (or the pieces of it) to Class Q. I may delay his death a bit for the purpose of this fic.


	2. Twelve Hills

Disclaimer: All the Detective School Q and Fruit Basket characters belong to their respective creators. Slight AU and OOCness.

**Chapter 2 - Twelve Hills**

A few hours later, four teens stepped out of the town's high school.

"The nerve of that woman!" Kinta growled. "They must have rigged the records to make it seem that you quit school willingly!" He punched the perimeter wall of the compound. The others winced as plaster drizzled down from the impact. The principal had been uncooperative. All three detectives had been unceremoniously shown the door. Not even Kyu's bumbling appearance or Ryu's charm had put a chink in that wall of silence.

"She's a Sohma and probably acting under their instructions. Thanks anyway, Kinta… but I am more worried about Kureno-kun," Arisa toyed with a strand of her blond hair.

"Juniyama… Twelve Hills… Why is the town named so?" Kyu asked suddenly as he read a faded poster advertising a town gala event. "That? There are twelve hills around this town, each with a treasure of its own, so the local folklore goes…" Arisa shrugged. "All the hills save one are owned by the Sohmas. Maybe that's the source of the Sohma wealth." They were walking past a playground.

"_Tin, silver, gold. What treasure does your hill hold?"_ a dark-haired youngster chanted as he swung to and fro on his swing. Beside him was a teenaged girl with a long braid, probably his sister, judging by her colouring. Her eyes flickered up at the approach of the teenagers.

"Arisa," she leapt to her feet. "You should not be here…" Still, she enveloped Arisa in a bear-hug.

"Saki," Arisa returned the embrace. "This is my friend, Hanajima Saki. And her kid brother, Megumi." The boy had walked silently to his sister's side.

* * *

"Has he agreed?" the voice from behind the shoji was soft and raspy.

"No, but a few more days should make him more compliant…" the man kneeling before the closed shoji replied. He wore the traditional Japanese gi and hakame.

"Such a disgrace… a member of our noble clan with that filthy fish-girl… We'll see how long he can hold out…"

"About the engagement with the daughter of the Matsumoto CEO…"

"Tell them that everything will proceed as planned."

Frozen in the nearby bushes, a youngster clapped his hand over the mouth of his playmate with a finger on his lips. The orange-haired girl nodded and the boy released his hand. She tucked herself into a hollow deep in the bushes while he crept on ahead. The voices died off as the exchange ended. Sohma Hiro positioned himself at a good vantage point to surprise his target further down the path. He took longer than the boy expected.

"Uncle Shigure, going up to the hills again?" Hiro asked nonchalantly as he stepped out from hiding. "Ah, Hiro-chan," Shigure laughed and ruffled the boy's hair, a gesture which he knew annoyed the youngster. Hiro's sharp eyes noticed the basket the older man had in his other hand.

"Stealing mushrooms from Akito-sama again? Can I come too?" Hiro said. "Sh! Don't let Akito hear you," Shigure hurried pinched Hiro's lips between his thumb and forefinger. "Little lost lambs like you will get eaten by big bad wolves in the mountains…"

"Funny, the only wolf I see here is you, Shigure…" a teenaged boy with dyed white hair and a punk get-up strolled up to the pair. "Political marriages for the good of the clan are so passé…" Hiro made use of the distraction to kick Shigure in the shin and make good his escape behind his older cousin.

"Haru-kun, why, those were Rin's exact words…" Shigure growled and rubbed his sore shin. Hiro thumbed his nose at his uncle from behind the safety of the older boy's legs.

"Before Akito shoved her out of that window!" Hatsuharu bunched up his fists. "What does _he_ intend to do? Starve him into submission? Where is he locked up?"

"If you value your precious Rin, I would advise you to watch yourself," Shigure warned. "Master Akito may just decide to pull the plug on your favourite vegetable…" Hatsuharu growled at the barb. Hiro clutched at his wrist and shook his head. _Not now…_

* * *

"Creepy… are you sure about staying here?" Kinta whispered with a shudder as he noticed a string of straw dummies hanging from the rafters. A number of fudas were pasted on the doors and walls. Kyu stood on his tiptoes to better study a straw doll. "You'll get used to it," Arisa reassured them.

"We have no choice, seeing that every inn in town refused to put us up and Uotani-san's place is too small…" Ryu shrugged. It was fortunate that the Hanajima siblings had readily agreed to put them up. The Hanajimas lived in a somewhat derelict-looking compound on the outskirts of town, well into the hills. They were orphaned two years ago when a tree fell on their father's car and were eking out a meagre living on the insurance payout.

"That's because every inn in town's owned by the Sohma clan. You returned at a bad time, Arisa," Saki remarked as she served them tea. "We do expect to get some payment from you boys for putting you up. Discount negotiable if you can help Arisa-san."

"Hana-chan, how's my deadbeat father coping? No one was in when I passed by our place."

"He's been trying to keep his fish shop going but with the Sohmas bringing in fresh seafood via their supermarkets, it is unlikely he can hold out much longer. I gave him a reading and advised him to try selling in the next town," Saki said. "He should move too, before the Sohma landlords boot him out of your rental room and storefront. He brings us free fish and I'll miss that."

"Thanks, Hana-chan. You're a pal."

"These straw dolls look like voodoo dolls. You guys are witchdoctors or something?" Kyu blurted out suddenly. Both Hanajima siblings nodded slowly.

"We are psychics and shrine mediums. The Hanajima clan has a long-standing rivalry with the Sohma because we hold the last hill in this area which does not fall under their control."

"Sis, someone is snooping about the hill…" Megumi stood up suddenly. He grabbed one of the straw dolls and a handful of wicked-looking wooden stakes, tucking them into his belt. "Be careful, Megu," Saki called out after her brother as he darted out noiselessly. "Don't hurt them too much."

"Megumi's an expert in curses," Saki explained in a deadpan manner. "Our family has been the guardians of the Hill of the Fresh Spring for generations but they keep trying to divert the spring water into their land. Recently, they have sent their goons to trespass…"

"Saki! You and Megu can't continue living here all alone!" Arisa declared. "She's right. I mean a defenceless young lady and a little kid…" Kinta agreed.

"But you are not alone, are you?" Ryu said quietly. "I noticed men's shoes far too large for your brother in the hallway. And judging by the fresh dirt on them, they were recently used. We are not your only guests."

"Correct, Master Kazuma was forced to surrender his dojo two months ago. He now conducts his lessons from here. He and the boys should be returning from training soon…" Saki gave the teeniest of smiles.

"Man, no leeks! I hate the stuff!" A tanned boy with orange hair exclaimed as he pounded into the hallway. "See ya guys about!" he waved to his fellow trainees who were taking their leave from their sensei.

"Sorry, Kyo. It's leek soup, leek omelette… and grilled fish…" Saki said in deadpan tone. "At least there's fish, right, Kyo? You need to eat more veggies," the sensei said. "Oh, we have guests…"

"Sohma Kazuma, karate master and his foster-son, Sohma Kyo," Saki introduced the pair. "Kazuma-sensei's the only one with the guts to stand up to the Sohma elders." The admiration in her eyes was unmistakeable.

"Haru-kun and Yuki have stopped coming for lessons. Yuki's a stuck-up brat after hanging about Master Akito so often… You would think he's setting himself up to be the next head. I guess he feels he's too good for us now..." Kyo muttered under his breath.

"Kyo, has there been any news of Kureno-san?" Arisa asked. "Sorry, Fish-girl. Not even your dad's best tuna can get me to talk, since I don't know where that freak's got him locked up…" Kyo said unapologetically and grabbed a handful of biscuits off the tea table. "If he isn't buried yet…"

"Kyo, mind your manners," Kazuma reprimanded gently. Kyo mumbled his apology through a mouthful of biscuit, grabbed his shoes and ran out. "I'm eating dinner out, just save me a bit of fish!"

"Sorry, Uotani-san, I understand your fears for Kureno. However, I have had little contact with the main house since I moved in with Hanajima-san…" the older man said.

**Author's Notes:**

Fruit Basket characters:

Hanajima Saki – psychic girl with a psychic kid brother (Megumi).

Hanajima Megumi – Saki's little bro who specializes in curses.

Sohma Hiro – the Sheep in the Zodiac. About 12 years old with a sharp tongue

Sohma Shigure – the Dog in the Zodiac. In the manga, he is a somewhat devious character. He is an author of 'adult' novels.

Sohma Hatsuharu – the Ox in the Zodiac. You can say he suffers from a split-personality in the manga. He can be nice (White Haru) or when provoked, he can turn nasty (Black Haru). He is in love with his cousin 'Rin' or Sohma Isuzu.

Sohma Kyo – the Cat of the Zodiac. He is a hot-tempered teen with an ongoing rivalry with his cousin Yuki (Rat of the Zodiac)

Sohma Kazuma – Kyo's foster father and guardian ever since Kyo was rejected by his biological father.


	3. The Sohmas

Disclaimer: All the Detective School Q and Fruit Basket characters belong to their respective creators.

There will be some OOC-ness. And the Sohmas are a dsyfunctional lot, even in the canon manga.

**Chapter 3 - The Sohmas**

"Sohma," Kyu read the name off the front gate. "Guess this is the place." It was a brilliant autumn morning. Kazuma-sensei had suggested that he send word to the Sohma house before the young detectives called on it. Uotani Arisa was not welcome at the Sohma house due to her relationship with Kureno. Arisa agreed to wait at the Hanajimas' for any good news.

"Wow, it is old _and huge_…" Kinta remarked. "Look, they even got a moat around the place. Watch your step." He grabbed Kyu's collar just in time to save Kyu from winding up in the moat. Ryu stood back and studied the gate. The architecture was a traditional Japanese style. The buildings probably dated back to the early Tokugawa era.

"Yo, if you are selling, we're not buying," a teen sporting bleached hair and multiple earrings waved at them from the open gate. "And if you're from some screwball charity or church, you can go f- yourselves."

"Haru-kun, be nice. They look like strangers," a dark-haired girl admonished. The punk ignored her and strolled past the Class Q boys.

"Excuse me, Miss, we are looking for Sohma Kureno," Kyu asked. The girl dropped the broom she was holding. "Kureno is not here," she said, glancing about and lowering her voice. "Who's looking for him?"

"Renjou Kyu, and my friends, Amakusa Ryu and Toyama Kintaro," Kyu introduced himself. "Nice to meet you."

"Sohma Kagura," the girl smiled and picked up her broom. "Nice to meet you too." She was in her late teens, despite her girlish pinafore dress. "That was my cousin Hatsuharu, please excuse him. He has other matters on his mind," she apologised on his behalf.

"We would like to speak to the head, if Kureno-san is not in," Kinta cut in. "Do come in," she beckoned the boys to enter the courtyard. A few curious neighbours were peering out of their windows.

Two children peered up from their games in the courtyard. The girl darted behind a pillar shyly. "It's alright, Kisa," Kagura reassured the child. The boy gave a contemptuously look to the visitors. "If you are asking on behalf of the fish-seller's daughter, tell her Kureno is well and getting married to someone else," Kagura said. "Best if she forgets about him."

"That is a lie, isn't it?" Hiro blurted out before Kagura could hush him. "Could we speak to him?" Kinta asked. "Master Akito will not allow it," Kagura shook her head.

"Let them speak to Master Akito," a youthful voice called out.

"Master Yuki," Kagura gasped. "Kazuma-sensei told me you were coming," a teenaged boy in an immaculately pressed school uniform stood on a raised corridor linking two buildings. "Kagura-san, please prepare some tea and snacks for our guests. I will deal with Akito."

"But the master is undergoing his medical…" Kagura started. "Akito's days are numbered and his physician knows it," Yuki cut off her protests with a wave of his hand. He disappeared into a building and emerged a short while later.

* * *

Sohma Hatori wondered how long the illness would take to claim his patient's life. The elders wanted him to live as long as possible. Akito was erratic, but easily managed by them. Sohma Yuki, next in line to the position of head, was a young man who knew his mind and was as ambitious as his mother where the family wealth was concerned. In the past year, both mother and son had started a slow but sure takeover of key family businesses. It was only a matter of time before it became official.

"You quack! Enough with your worthless medicines!" A bottle smashed into the wall behind him. The wooden serving tray clipped his forehead, enough to momentarily stun him and draw blood. It had come at him on his blind side. Hatori stoically pressed his handkerchief to the wound. It was better to let his rage spend itself.

"I'm dying, Hatori. I'll die young like my father… Has that woman been near my food?" the pale young man on the dais turned to Shigure, who had entered the room.

"No, Master Akito, she is safely locked up," Shigure reassured him.

"Master Akito, please pull yourself together, we have visitors," Shigure added. "They are in the antechamber with Yuki, shall I show them in?"

"Yes, please do."

* * *

Kyo knew he was not allowed in the main compound. Still, he had to check on how the newcomers were being received. "Dirty rat," he hissed when he overheard the conversation with Yuki. It irked him that Yuki was behaving like the household head and the way the servants and other clan members obeyed him. He shimmied down the tree he was in.

"Kyo-kun, you will get in trouble if they catch you," a familiar voice warned. A blond teen a year younger than him stuck his head out of a nearby window. Momiji was half-German and his cherubic features made him appear a lot younger than his actual age.

"You didn't see me, Momiji."

"Got it," Momiji withdrew into his room and shut the window. Discordant strains of violin music drifted from within. Kyo shook his head. The boy was persistent. He was an amazing violinist as a child. Then Akito saw fit to break his fingers over some small slight a few years back. Afterwards, those fingers never quite recovered sufficiently for him to perform as well as before. Kyo wondered if the boy hated Akito for that.

_Everyone has a reason to hate Akito,_ Kyo decided. It was getting to him that was the problem. Of course, Kyo didn't have a problem sneaking in and out of the compound, so long as he kept out of Yuki's or Shigure's sight. The others were not inclined to report his intrusions to Master Akito for fear of his temper.

* * *

The monitors in the hospital beeped and whirred, signs of life in a sterile environment. "Rin? I'm here to see you again," Hatsuharu dropped a chaste peck on the forehead of the comatose young woman. There was no indication she was aware of his visit.

The young man pulled up a chair. He could talk to her for hours, waiting for some sign she was going to wake up. Hatori had suggested they speak to her, try to simulate her brain. Slowly, her friends stopped coming, then her family… until only Hatsuharu was left.

"Rin, I could just kill him for what he did…"

**Author's Notes**

Fruit Basket characters:

Sohma Kagura – the Boar in the Zodiac. In the manga, she has a crush on Kyo, a fiery temper and surprising strength, which causes damages around poor Shigure's house. (Shigure lives apart from the main house in the manga and anime)

Sohma Kisa – the Tiger in the Zodiac. Shy, timid girl who lost her voice in the manga after being teased in school.

Sohma Yuki – the Rat in the Zodiac. He has a running rivalry with Kyo. In the manga, he shows a scary side, especially when he is annoyed by Shigure, his brother or Kyo. I am playing up the rivalry here.

Sohma Hatori – the Dragon in the Zodiac. He was blinded in one eye after Akito attacked him in a rage after he decides to marry his girlfriend and leave. He later leaves his girlfriend after wiping out her memories of the incident as she became ill due to guilt for causing his injury. In the manga, the Dragon has the power to erase memories.

Sohma Momiji – the Rabbit in the Zodiac. Half-German and the eternally optimistic and smiling. He hides his sorrows at being rejected by his family behind a smile.

Sohma Izuru (Rin) – the Horse in the Zodiac.


	4. Master Akito

Disclaimer: All the Detective School Q and Fruit Basket characters belong to their respective creators.

Narusawa Kazuma and Minami Megumi are not in this fic yet. Maybe they could appear later.

**Chapter 4 – Master Akito**

Amakusa Ryu felt the atmosphere of the room they were shown into was unbearably oppressive. Seeing the pale young man seated on a dias in the dimly-lit room, he knew that they were facing Master Akito himself. Akito's yukata hung loosely from thin shoulders. His skin was pale and his cheeks hollow.

The night before, they had made full use of Hanamachi's offer of her laptop and wireless access, for a reasonable fee of course, to contact Kazuma back in Tokyo. Their computer whiz had replied by breakfast, sending them a list of businesses held by the Sohmas and any information on the current head. Sohma Akito was stricken with a strange fever as a child, which had left him weakened.

Smelling blood, Kinta turned slightly to his right. Hatori was kneeling in the shadows. Kinta guessed he was the physician from the stethoscope hanging round his neck. He had a bloodstained handkerchief pressed to his forehead. There was a glint of broken glass behind him, near the wall. A wooden tray was lying on the tatami near him.

Kyu's attention was drawn to the pair standing behind Master Akito. The older one was a man in traditional Japanese garb. It was he who had shown them in. The other was Master Yuki. The youth had taken up his position as soon as entered the room. Their faces were inscrutable masks. Kyu was reminded of a scene from some nature documentary where vultures waited for an ill wildebeest to die. _They were expecting something to happen, _he understood.

"Welcome, please, take a seat…" Akito rasped and indicated the three cushions arranged before them. The boys sat down cross-legged. Soundlessly, Kagura entered with the tea tray, offering the guests tea and sweets. She picked up the discarded tray and shattered glass. As silently as she had entered, she left.

"Tell that girl to wear a kimono," Akito said under his breath. Shigure nodded. Yuki knelt down next to Akito and whispered into his ear. Akito turned his attention to the guests.

"You are here to ask about Kureno on that woman's behalf," Akito stated. "Tell her he is better off without her. Tell her to leave this town, and never return if she knows what's good for her. You should leave as well. This town is no place for you. Tell Hanajima not to interfere where she has no business doing so."

"So you confess that the charge of theft against Uotani was trumped up and that what you people wanted was to force her to leave?" Kinta blurted. Akito glared at him.

"Where is Kureno?" Kinta asked. "Let him speak to Arisa!"

"You outsiders know nothing!" Akito spat. He probably would have hit Kinta, if Yuki had not restrained him.

"Shigure-san, show them out. Akito-sama is tired," Yuki ordered.

"This way, please…" the older man ushered them out.

* * *

"Geez, what's with that guy?" Kinta complained as they were hurried out to the main courtyard. "Forgive Master Akito. He's having one of his bad days…" Shigure said with an apologetic smile. "I do hope our boring town isn't wearing you out. I'm Sohma Shigure, author. Of course, you may know me better by my other penname Nao Kiritani …"

Kinta's jaw dropped. "You are that Kiritani who wrote _Summer-Coloured Sky_? I love that novel. Can you put more action in the next instalment?"

"Wait, you are that Sohma Shigure who wrote _Homecoming Spring _and _Quiet Family_!" Kyu exclaimed.

"Sounds like you got some fans, Uncle Shigure," the boy who had been playing hopscotch in the courtyard remarked. He stared at Kyu. "You don't look like the literary type. Are you sure you didn't read his dirty novels?"

"Actually Ryu's one who's a fan… I haven't read any of those books…" Kyu scratched his head awkwardly. Kisa peered at them from behind a pillar. He gave her a goofy smile and she returned it shyly. She was a skinny little girl but she was apparently outgrowing her faded sundress.

"Not really… I thought the mother in _Homecoming_ was a bit clichéd. The father-daughter dynamics in _Quiet_ was food for thought," Ryu said. "Overall, both novels are a good read on the train… As for the erotic ones, they aren't my cup of tea." Shigure's face fell.

"Looks like you have a critic, Brother," Kagura said. She just emerged from a side building with a basket in her hand. "Master Akito wants you to wear a kimono next time you serve…" Shigure dodged as Kagura mercilessly swung a fist at his head. "But it isn't New Year. He knows I hate wearing those. I'm going to see her."

"What exactly is wrong with Master Akito?" Ryu asked. The atmosphere changed immediately. Kagura muttered a hasty goodbye and all but ran off down a path leading deeper into the sprawling compound. Kisa followed her closely. Shigure coughed into his sleeve. "It's like you are waiting for him to die," Kyu added. "Yeah, what's the doc seeing him for?" Kinta asked.

"Leukaemia. He's been a pain to everyone for a while. I suppose he was faking it at first. He wasn't sick in the physical sense at first… A couple of months back, Hatori-san ran one of his medical checks and confirmed it. I do hear things, you know," Hiro said. "You speak too much, Hiro…" Shigure hissed a warning.

"Admit it, Shigure-san. Everyone is waiting for Akito to die. Yuki and you especially," the boy smirked. "It can't be long…"

"Don't they have bone marrow transplants or something? And shouldn't he be in hospital if he's that sick?" Kyu asked. Hiro snorted. "We've no matches so far for a transplant and Akito refuses to be admitted."

"Please kindly show yourselves out. The gate's that way," Shigure threw up his hands in defeat and stalked off.

"Guess we have worn out our welcome," Ryu bid goodbye to Hiro. The other boys followed suit.

* * *

"Momiji, first-aid kit…" Hatori staggered into the house he shared with his ward. His head wound was bleeding profusely. He plopped into the armchair. The teen put down his violin and grabbed the kit off the shelf. "What happened?" he asked the man as he tore open the packet of cotton gauze. Momiji was adept at treating his wounds by now.

"He threw the tray at me," Hatori hissed. The antiseptic wash stung.

"I'll cook today. You just stay here and rest," the youth offered as he bandaged the newest wound. "Thanks." The doctor still felt a little faint. He reached for his cigarettes. Momiji wrinkled his nose. The room would smell, but he couldn't bring himself to object to this small comfort of Hatori's.

"Oh, Momiji, what happened to the ant poison?" Hatori puffed on his cigarette.

"I don't know. Maybe we used it up…What's exactly wrong with Akito?" the boy asked innocently. "Before the leukaemia, I mean."

"Nothing was wrong with him physically. Between his father and Ren, they screwed him up. He thinks he's sick and weak. The only reason he can't walk long enough to leave the house is because his legs are withered from his not using them," Hatori whispered. His late father, former attending physician to the Sohma's head and his immediate family, had told him many things.

"Why doesn't Ren-san donate her bone marrow?"

"Because it will never match Akito's…" Hatori bit his tongue. "Momiji, could you play _Beethoven's Ninth Symphony_ for me?" He had to change the topic. "Sure!" The budding musician enthusiastically picked up his violin. The first notes were barely out when Shigure appeared on their doorstep.

"Ha-san, I brought some cured ham for you," a cheerful Shigure stepped through the open door and placed a packet of frozen ham on the coffee table. "How's that head?" he bent over the wounded man close enough to whisper.

"Keep an eye on Hiro, he talks too much to outsiders. He's your responsibility." There was a slight threat in his words. Hatori's heart sank. _What trouble had his other ward been stirring up? _

**Author's Notes: **

I made a bit of changes to the family relationships and characters in this fic. Here are a few:

1. Kagura and Shigure are siblings (?)

2. Akito is MALE.

3. Akito is dying of leukaemia.

4. Hatori is den father (?) to Momji and Hiro


	5. The Hatchet

Disclaimer: All the Detective School Q and Fruit Basket characters belong to their respective creators.

**Chapter 5 – The Hatchet **

"Where's Kureno?" Arisa demanded the moment the detectives stepped through the Hanajima's gate. "She's been waiting for news since you left," Master Kazuma explained. "Sorry, Arisa. We didn't see him and no one told us…" Kinta apologized.

"Something must have happened to him! I spoke to my dad last night over the phone. He's still in the next town. No one has seen Kureno for weeks! He could be injured! He could be dead! Akito must have killed him!" the girl was in near-hysterics. Arisa seized a broomstick from beside the gate. "I'll go see Akito! Lemme go!" Kazuma seized her by the wrist.

"Arisa, don't be hasty!" Kyo and several of Kazuma's students came running. "Calm down! Even if he is dead, you can't do any good killing someone!" Kyo shouted and wrested the broom from her. Uotani shrieked like a banshee.

"Uotani-san, I believe Kureno is alive," Kyu said. "He is somewhere nearby, possibly in the compound. Akito wanted us out and out quick. Shigure didn't want the others talking too much. Moreover, there was no sign of mourning in the household. Kagura was wearing a red pinafore. Her brother is Akito's close attendant. My guess is that Shigure or that Yuki would know where Kureno is."

"Well, let's go ask them!" Arisa demanded and tore herself free from the karate master's grasp.

"Wait, we can't just barge in like that!" Kyu exclaimed. It was Saki who stopped her friend by standing directly in the gateway. "Arisa. Why don't we have a cup of tea first? I can get Megumi to look up some curses that will have Shigure or Yuki spilling the beans on Kureno's whereabouts. I trust Kyu-kun's thinking. I sense that Kureno is still alive, and he loves you. So please, Arisa?" Arisa relented and allowed Saki to lead her indoors.

* * *

Kisa was scared. Akito had called to see her. Hiro had gone out with Haru. Shigure was not around to protect her. He would be having his lunch with Kagura. The timid servant who brought her here had left. They were alone in the room. She hoped it would be over quickly.

"Why don't you speak up, Kisa-chan?" Akito hit her across the face as she cowered in the corner. His fingers pinched her cruelly. Kisa managed to make some gargles, which only seemed to amuse him. The young man enjoyed tormenting the weakest member of the household. He lashed out at her, kicking her in the ribs.

"Have you been talking, Kisa?" He yanked at her hair. The girl whimpered from the pain. Her eyes widened in terror when she saw the cruel-looking scissors in his hands. "Didn't your mother trim your hair for you? It's too long… Wait, I forgot. Your parents were killed in that car crash last year, weren't they?" Akito could be so cruel. Kisa had been living in the clan's ancestral home since her parents' death.

The girl wept helplessly as he hacked off her hair…

* * *

Outside, Momiji froze in mid-step. He knew enough to understand what the commotion coming from Akito's room was. Someone was receiving the clan head's special attentions. He debated if he should go in and stop Akito. However, he knew this would only make it worse for whoever was involved. He gritted his teeth, balled his fists and ran away from the scene. He wanted to run, run and run as far as his legs could take him away from that hateful place.

"Where's Kisa?" The half-German boy almost ran into Hiro. The younger boy stared questioningly at the blond. Before Momiji could reply, Hatsuharu stepped out from the wood shed with a wicked-looking hatchet in his hands. Their eyes met.

"I'm going to do some gardening. Run along now, Hiro-kun," Hatsuharu managed a smile. "But Kisa…" the young boy was almost frantic. The last time Kisa went missing, she fell and was badly injured. Momiji gently shoved his younger cousin out of the gate. "What say we go buy some cakes for Kisa and surprise her, ne?"

They needed to get Hiro out of the compound.

"Okay…" Hiro frowned. His older cousins were definitely acting weird. Hatsuharu hefted the hatchet in his hands. It was a heavy weight, enough for what he had in mind.

* * *

"What intel has our Kazu-kun dug up?" Kinta asked. He peered over Ryu's shoulder. It was after lunch and the boys were reviewing their case.

"Well, the Sohma is an old samurai clan and very powerful in the past in these parts and even now. Most marriages in the clan appear to be political in nature… they have a habit of marrying top politicians, industrialists or their children. There was a recent match that fell through thanks to some PI catching snaps of the bride-to-be with an unknown young man. The bride-to-be, Sohma Izuru was severely injured in an accident. The engagement was called off and she still remains in a coma. She was to be married off to the owner of Asada Property Holdings…" Ryu said.

"Who is, by the way, an old lecher who lusts after girls young enough to be his granddaughter," Kyo entered the room. "Rin's fall was not an accident." He chomped on the apple he had in his hand.

"Suicide?" Kyu asked. Kyo shook his head and bit into his apple again.

"Nope. I don't believe my cousin was suicidal. She was pushed over the balcony by Akito. But no one dares to testify against him. I have a hot tip for you. Kureno's still holding out. That's why Akito's in a foul mood and Hatori got smacked in the face by the tea tray. I believe Hiro would be glad to talk too. I overheard the servants saying that Akito's going to beat up Kisa. He can't have Kureno beaten up because they need a groom and Akito has no strength or guts to hit a grown man who could fight back. Hatori's a pushover. Akito's certain of that. He is less certain of how Kureno would react. Kureno saying no to the arranged marriage was a shock for Akito."

"Why did Kazuma-sensei get forced out of his dojo? Was it something to do with Rin?" Kyu asked. The timeline appeared to coincide. The orange-haired youth nodded, chewing on his apple. "Sensei suspected foul play in the accident but there were no witnesses who could testify. Only Shigure and Kisa were at home with them then. Shigure the lapdog is saying it is an accident. Kisa couldn't speak and even if she could, she's too terrified of Akito to tell. Yuki was at school with me at the time of the incident. Haru-chan and most of the others were in school too."

"Sohma Yuki… he is slated to be the next head of the Sohma clan, right?" Kyu asked. "Is he Akito's younger brother or something? There was a slight physical resemblance…"

"You happen to be right. It's an open secret in town so I suppose I could tell you that Akito's father was a known womanizer who is not above having flings with servants or the wives of his relatives. Yuki happened to be the by-product of one of those flings. After Yuki was born, his family rose in prominence in the clan. You can say he was being groomed to take over as head since Akito was such a weak child. The elders probably didn't expect Akito to outlive his father at all," Kyo smirked. "That was before the puffer-fish incident."

"What does his wife have to say about that? I heard that Akito's mom is still alive…" Kinta asked.

"Well, Aunt Ren is weird. They say she is not quite right in here…" Kyo tapped his temple. "I have not met her before. Only Shigure and Hatori are allowed to see her and that she keeps to her rooms deep inside the compound. She would often scream at Akito, calling him a bastard or something like that. Geez, he is her own son after all… It's Yuki who's the bastard…" Kyo paused. He had been carried away. He checked himself. "Look, I am not really close to them. I can't tell you guys much."

"Excuse me, have you seen Arisa?" Saki asked. There was a furrow of worry on her brow. "Why? Isn't she with you in the kitchen?" Kyo asked.

"She was… but she must have slipped out while Kazuma-sensei and I were washing up…" Saki replied. "Kazuma-sensei's looking for her now."

"What? You had Sensei washing dishes?!" Kyo exclaimed. "What were you thinking?" _Karate masters do not wash dishes_, so Kyo thought.

"Wait. The important thing now is to find Arisa," Megumi stuck his head in through the open window. "Our hatchet is missing too, Sis." At his words, everyone ran out. Uotani could have made real on her threat in seeking out Akito.

**Author's Notes **

Something's going to happen… Maybe someone will beat up Akito for beating up Kisa. Or something else may happen…


	6. Death on the Hills

Disclaimer: All the Detective School Q and Fruit Basket characters belong to their respective creators.

**Chapter 6 –Death on the Hills **

_Sohma compound. _

Kagura scrubbed at the clothes as she squatted over the tub. She had miscalculated. Blood stains were hell to remove. She glanced cautiously around when she heard a noise and was greatly relieved to see it was only a cat. She would positively die if anyone chanced upon her now, especially the boys. She would need to drop by the local convenience store to pick up some items personally. One could never trust her brother to do a woman's shopping. It would soon be time for Akito's tea. She had to change into a kimono before sending it to him.

* * *

In the solitude of his room, Hatori enjoyed a glass of French red wine and a cigarette. He glanced over to the photo frame on his desk. It showed a younger, smiling him with a young woman on his arm. They were flanked by a younger Shigure and a platinum-haired youth. It was pointless thinking of what could have been…_ if she had lived…_

_Her death was entirely his fault!_ He had been so naïve to believe the wisdom of the elders, to listen to Akito…

Hatori should have been there. Even Shigure had ticked him off for his absence. Ayame had hit him in the hospital and called him a heartless cad, never mind if he was undergoing treatment from having Akito stab him in the eye with a pen. Ayame had not spoken to him since Akito ordered him and Ritsu out of town, supposedly for having an affair. He had never pegged Ayame as being gay, though Ritsu's tendencies towards lace and such trimmings had been pronounced since a young age. Who could blame the boy given that Akito forced him to wear nothing but women's kimonos at every family event after he showed up one New Year with a bit of lace trim on his shirt cuffs? It was not even a girl's blouse.

The head-in-waiting, Yuki, would not be so unreasonable or demanding. _Once Akito was dead…_Hatori chided himself and shoved that thought away from his mind.

* * *

"Yuki?" Shigure looked up guiltily from his seat to the young man seated opposite him. His secret was out. Yuki fully intended to use it against him in the future if the need arose.

"How is Ren?" the younger man smoothly changed the topic. "I hear she is slipping… perhaps a discreet nursing home will be more to her liking, and Akito's."

"I will keep her on her medication…" Shigure blurted. "She should be allowed out to the sit in the garden. Hatori-san mentioned that it would improve her mood…"

"And ruin Akito's when she starts yelling at him. What're we up to here, Shigure-san? Driving Akito sooner to his grave?" Yuki spoke quietly. "Oh, by the way, I would suggest you pull your little charge, Kisa, out from school for the next few days. Have Hatori-san take a look at her. I hear Akito-sama's taken a liking to her. Little girls do grow up very fast… Do you have her on the pill?"

Shigure went pale and muttered a hasty excuse and almost ran from the room. Yuki grinned as he saw the man hurrying in the direction of Akito's chmabers. Akito hated anyone interrupting him when he was having his twisted fun. Shigure the faithful dog was going to find himself in the doghouse.

* * *

"Have you ever hated someone so much, you wish they were dead?"

Momiji blinked and almost choked on his cherry. He was having a sundae with his younger cousin in the local dessert shop when the boy suddenly popped the question. "Why do you ask?" the teen laughed. Hiro's expression was serious. For a moment, they did not speak. Around them the shop bustled with the afternoon crowd.

"Haru-kun. You must have seen it too. Since Rin was hospitalized… Haru's been acting weird. He moved out of Hatori-san's. I thought it was because he was mad that Hatori could not get her to wake up… but the way he looks at Akito… It's like..." Hiro shrugged and stirred his melting sundae into a chocolate milkshake.

"Are you afraid he may do something rash?" Momii asked. "We all feel the same way about Akito, don't we?" he cracked a weak joke and laughed uneasily. "Well, Haru's moving back in with us because Rin's folks will be home in a few days so he could stop house-sitting for them, unless he moves in with Kazuma-sensei at the Hanajima's. You know… I want to land a scholarship and go to a music college someday, just like Haru won a sport scholarship…" Momiji envied his cousin. Hatsuharu had almost broken free of the clan's influence. _If he had taken the scholarship and gone to that sports college in Tokyo… _

"He can't leave Rin behind…" Hiro said. "He likes Rin like I like Kisa." Momiji wondered if the younger boy had guessed at Akito's mistreatment of Kisa.

* * *

"You are detectives, aren't you? So find her already!" Kyo snarled. "It doesn't work that way, buster!" Kinta shouted. The pair were bashing their way through thick undergrowth behind the Hanajima house.

"Arisa!" Saki shouted. She sensed her friend was somewhere nearby. Master Kazuma and a few of his students had gone downtown earlier to search for the missing girl. So far, no one had seen Arisa. She was not at her father's apartment. The landlady was lying in wait to collect the rent there all day and she would have needed to walk through the common hallway where the old woman was waiting No one on the busy market street had seen her and the fish store remained closed. No one had seen her at her former school. Master Kazuma had gone over to the Sohma compound to check with the servants.

Kyu and Ryu were also searching the hillside. The Hanajima land bordered that owned by the Sohma clan. There was a winding path through the woods that linked both the Hanajima compound with the Sohma's in the old days before the feud started. This path was now largely overgrown by underbrush. It was along this nearly forgotten path that Kyu and Ryu were carrying out their search. Some of the paths nearer the house were used by the boys during their training runs. However, those nearer the boundary line were used only by the Hanajimas.

"Whoa, guess that's Megumi-chan's work," Kyu pointed at the straw dummies nailed to the trees along the path. Childish handwriting on a weathered signboard nearby promised painful death to all trespassers. They must be near the border.

"Kyu, what was Uotani wearing when we saw her earlier?" Ryu suddenly asked. Kyu scratched his head. "I believe it was a chequered long skirt and T-shirt top…"

"Red and white?" Ryu asked. Kyu nodded. "She came this way…" Ryu pointed at a red and white piece of cloth caught in a bush. They had to go further. "Hey, any luck?" a dishevelled Kyo called out as he and Kinta emerged from the bushes. They had been searching another path nearby. "She wasn't at the pool…"

"She may have gone over into Sohma land," Kyu pointed at some broken bushes. He frowned. Some of the breaks did not seem recent. The path had been used recently, possibly by the trespassers Megumi and Saki were speaking of.

"Watch your step!" Kyo warned. The path beyond the boundary was steep and slippery with moss. Kyo took the lead while Ryu lingered behind, searching for clues. "Hey, aren't those matsutake mushrooms?" Kyu pointed at some fungi high up on a tree. "You are right. Woohoo!" Kinta immediately set about grabbing the fungi. "Bet these will taste great with dinner."

"That's Sohma property and you're trespassing!" Kinta dodged as a piece of wood flew through the air and whacked into the tree dangerously close to him. Hatsuharu emerged from the shadows of the trees nearby.

"Whoa! Easy now…" Kinta stepped back into Kyu, almost knocking him over a steep cliff. He did not like the hatchet in the young man's hands. "What's going on?" Ryu turned the corner in the path just in time to see Hatsuharu advancing on his classmates.

"Relax, Haru. They are with me!" Kyo doubled back on finding that Kyu and Kinta were not following him. With a snort, the white-haired youth shouldered the hatchet and disappeared into the shade of the pine trees.

"Geez, what's with that guy?" Kinta muttered under his breath. Kyo just shrugged. It was lucky it was Haru, not Shigure or Yuki. "Stay close," Kyo advised as they continued. "It will be dark soon." They would have to turn back in an hour or so.

"Wait, I smell something…" Kinta sniffed the air. "This way…" the older boy pointed over a steep drop. "It's like, blood…" Kyu peered over the edge. Kyo looked too and shouted. The Sohma boy slid down a slight incline nearby with amazing agility. Uotani Arisa was sprawled face-down on the pine needles. "Careful, she may have hurt her spine," Ryu called out a warning when he saw Kyo about to turn her over. They must stabilize her first. The three Class Q members followed Kyo down the steep slope. Their DDS first aid classes came into play.

To their relief, she had a strong pulse and steady breathing. The only injury she suffered was a cut on her forehead. She was apparently regaining consciousness. Slowly, she sat up with Ryu's help. Then they realised her ankle was twisted at an awkward angle. More worryingly, she seemed disoriented, suggesting a possible concussion. "I could carry her on my back, but I will need someone to haul us up, with a rope…" Kinta admitted. The slope was too steep for him to manage unaided.

"What's up?" Hatsuharu was on the path above looking down on them. "We need a doctor!" Kyu called out. "And some strong ropes!" Ryu added.

"For him?" Hatsuhari asked and pointed to something a few feet away from the group. A few crows were gathered round it. Kyo ran forward, sending them flying with loud caws. "I don't think he needs a doctor anymore."

Sohma Akito was lying with his head twisted at an angle that was humanly impossible. A bold crow hopped down onto his shoulder and pecked at the gaping wound in the back of his head.

**Author's Notes: **

Akito's dead. Foul play will be suspected.


	7. Death's Aftermath

Disclaimer: All the Detective School Q and Fruit Basket characters belong to their respective creators.

I am adding some OCs in here. Nothing much, just some random cops on the scene.

**7. Death's Aftermath**

"How's Miss Uotani?" Dan asked over the communicator. "She's awake, but with a concussion and mild amnesia. She can't recall how she came to be in the hills," Kinta replied. Arisa had been fortunate that her ankle was only sprained, not broken. Kyo had scampered up the hillside and back to Hanajima's. He returned with a few of the karate boys to rig a pulley system to get them up. The steep slippery slope had been too treacherous to navigate for even Kinta.

Hatsuharu had gone back to the Sohma place to relay the news of Akito's demise. Shigure had been called in to formally identify Akito since Hatsuharu had disappeared as soon as they reached the local hospital, a small but relatively well equipped facility for its size. Kyu and Ryu were now trying their level best to prevent a full-blown fight from breaking out in the local hospital. Sohma Shigure and Hanajima Saki were glaring daggers at each other. Further bloodshed seemed imminent.

"Sohma Kyo was with us most of the time. Or with some of his karate mates… The Hanajimas and Kazuma-sensei could vouch for each other, only the kid bro was left alone for a while, but he stayed in the house to carry out some prayer ritual thingy. The other Sohmas are tight-lipped bunch. We couldn't get much out of them for Kureno-san's whereabouts, I don't think Akito's death will get them talking. This is one weird place…"

"Toyama, did you get the names of the investigating officers on the scene?" Kinta had stayed behind a while to give their side of Akito's discovery to the cops.

"They're local guys. One's a Sohma, the other was married to one. Sohma Mamoru, young detective, fresh out of police academy and Tokyo U. His partner's Akechi Ken, much older and widowed. An old-school type cop like my dad. I overheard Sohma making arrangements to pay their respects at Akechi's wife's grave. I believe her name was Sohma Ohana or something. They weren't exactly upset seeing Akito packed into a body bag. They don't seem to be that in with the main house, hard to say… the forensic folks are from the next town, since they don't have a forensic lab here."

This was worrisome. Still, there was a chance the police would be able to send up a neutral officer from outside soon. Dan ended his conversation with Kinta and called Nanami into his office. Class Q would need backup.

"Katagiri, could you ask Narusawa to check out some things for us?" he added as an afterthought.

"Did you find that hatchet?" Hanajima Megumi asked quietly. The boy had opted to accompany them to the hospital instead of waiting at home. "Nope," Kinta said. Hatsuharu did have a hatchet but it did not show any sign of blood on it. The boy would simply be chopping wood. Hanajima's hatchet was still missing. Police were still combing the slope for clues.

"Why don't we go down to the cafeteria for a cuppa tea?" Kyu suggested. :"I want to get an autograph…"

"Why don't we go in and see Uotani-san now. The doctor says she is ready to have visitors..." Ryu coaxed. Their ploy seemed to work as both would-be combatants parted and went their separate ways.

Megumi looked as pleased as a cat with feathers on its whiskers. "I killed Akito," he whispered. "What?!" Kinta's jaw dropped open. "I put a death curse on him. It worked a lot faster than I thought it would," Megumi said creepily.

"Megumi! Arisa-san's awake. Don't you want to come join us?" Saki called out for her brother. The little boy nodded and walked into the ward, leaving behind a stunned Kinta._ That was one creepy kid and a creepy big sis._ Both were dressed in black clothes and Kinta was reminded of the crows pecking at the body. He decided he would go join Kyu in the cafeteria.

He was walking along when a name on one of the doors caught his eye. "Sohma Izuru." Stealthily, the descendent of ninjas pushed open the ward door. The lone bed was dwarfed by numerous machines that registered heartbeat, breathing and other vital signs. The young lady in the bed looked more like a mannequin than a life and blood human. She was not alone. Engrossed in his private world, Hatsuharu did not sense the intrusion.

"Rin, please wake up… He's dead. We'll go live in the hills, grow our own veggies, rear our own chickens and don't give a hoot what the grownups say," he kissed her chastely on the back of her hand. Silently, Kinta exited and slid the door close.

* * *

"It must be so cool being a writer. The money, the travel, pretty girls…" Kyu tried to strike up a conversation with the writer.

"Sorry to disappoint you, kid. The pay's peanuts and I don't travel at all. Akito would never let me to leave town," Shigure said wryly. "The maids are old enough to be my granny or plain-looking as dishwater. Since Rin's accident, the only pretty girl in the house is my sis, Kagura. I can't decide which is worse, her bark or her bite."

Kyu frowned. There was a momentary something in Shigure's face that made him wonder.

"Hey, Kyu. What do you recommend? Coffee latte or green tea?" Kinta waved. "A can from the vending machine," Shigure replied. "Coffee and tea here tastes dodgy."

* * *

"What do you make of this?" Akechi gave a low whistle at the sight. It was a crudely-crafted shelter made from branches and logs and set into the rocky hillside. With a few more days of work, it would be almost inhabitable.

"Looks like a kid's hide-away. When I was a lad, my brothers had a tree-house," Sohma Mamoru grinned. But this was too much to be the work of children. He stared at an abandoned hand-barrow beside the shelter. "I believe we may have blood here…" They would need to question some people, who would not be too pleased.

* * *

_Shinjuku. Purple Iris Fashion Boutique. _

"I see…" the shop assistant looked up from the apron she was tacking. Her employer sounded serious. Ayame had taken the call in his small broom closet of an office. She could not tell who he was talking to or what the conversation was about from the snatches that spilled out from behind the locked door. "No, I will be there definitely. Hatori, you can count on that. Ritsu too."

The girl inched forward, craning her neck to peer through the glass window. Ayame had neglected to draw the blinds on the workroom. Backing, she knocked into…

"Gah, I'm sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry…" Ritsu wailed as pins, beads and knick-knacks went scattering across the floor. Ayame came to the door at the commotion. "Ritsu, calm down!" Ayame grabbed the kimono-clad youth by the shoulders before he could kneel down on the scattered pins. He enveloped him in a hug. Ritsu's sobs eased into whimpers and the struggling ceased.

"Ritsu, pack your bags. We are going home," Ayame said firmly.

"What? NO!" The news drained all colour from Ritsu's face and the tears started anew.

"He can't hurt you any more. He's dead. Akito's dead."

"Really?" The struggling stopped.

"I promise," the older man said and buried his nose in the transvestite's hair. "Hey, isn't this the _Chanel No 5_ I got you?"

The shop assistant hastily left the room for the store downstairs. She knew her employer's sexual orientation was open to question and she did not want to stay and see if he and the transvestite were going to get intimate among silks and satin of the workroom.

* * *

_Sohma compound._

Yuki smiled as he looked at the fax he had in his hand. This latest development had worked to his advantage. "_Amakusa Ryu. Heir apparent of the Amakusa family and a scion of the renowned Kyuzuryu clan, DDS Class Q student_," he read. It would never do for someone so well-connected to be lodged with the rival Hanajimas. An invitation was in order. Akito would not be around to protest.

The boy was fifteen, too young to be formally engaged, but that could be arranged in the future. There were Sohma daughters of similar age or younger. Yuki took a sip of Hatori's wine as the doctor watched. He had wasted no time partaking of the rights of clan head.

"Has the lawyer been contacted?"

"Shigure has made the necessary calls. The will would be read at the funeral when all the clan is gathered."

"Does that include my brother?" Yuki's tone was icy. You were using the phone earlier. "As a Sohma…" Hatori started.

"He walked out on the clan a long time ago. Matters here no longer concern him. My mother would be upset. However, I would prefer the funeral to proceed with the decorum appropriate for the clan. Do keep an eye on that person for me," Yuki smiled. "Would you like to join me for some archery practice, in preparation for the succession ritual? Perhaps you will be able to make the para-Olympics team…"

Hatori ground his teeth. Yuki had picked up some bad habits from Akito. The loss of his archery prowess was one that Akito never neglected to remind him of, whenever the chance arose. With one good eye, he could no longer shoot as accurately as he once did. _Or had the wine made the younger man careless in his words?_ The doctor could not be sure.

In the next room, Momiji cradled Kisa in his arms. It had taken forever for the poor girl to fall asleep and the teen did not wish to awake her. Hunched awkwardly against the door, he could hear the conversation in the next room. He wondered if Ayame would have a wig they could use. There was no way Kisa could go out with the tattered mess Akito left of her hair.

* * *

"Hey, Kagura? Seen Kisa?" Hiro called out when he saw the teen heading to the wash-area. It was unlike Kisa not to be in the garden tending to her flowers at this hour.

"No, Hiro-kun," Kagura replied. She hastily hid what she had been holding in her hands behind her back. The boy's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Heading to Ren's? I bet she will be so upset Akito-sama's dead…" he said sarcastically

"No, just came from there. Gotta go!" Kagura almost sprinted into the enclosed wash-area.

**Author's Notes: **

I used Ayame's name for his store name (Ayame = Iris). Chose to keep the store help anonymous. Won't be seeing her again.

Fruit Basket characters:

Sohma Ayame – the Snake of the Zodiac. Brash, flamboyant owner of a speciality boutique. He has a strained relationship with his brother Yuki (which consists of him trying to get close to Yuki and Yuki pushing him away). Close friend of Hatori and Shigure.

Sohma Ritsu – the Monkey of the Zodiac. Nervous, awkward and utterly lacking in self-esteem. A habitual cross-dresser.


	8. Invitation to Trouble

Disclaimer: All the Detective School Q and Fruit Basket characters belong to their respective creators.

**8. Invitation to Trouble**

"I suppose I must show my face at my son's funeral. How's Kureno?" The woman combed out her long tresses nonchalantly. She was pale from lack of exposure to the sun.

"Still stubborn, perhaps we should drop the idea…" Shigure murmured. He kneeled humbly before her. Since he was a child, he had been taught that his role was that of a housekeeper, of the family but not as highly placed as Hatori or Ayame.

"If there is one thing I agree with that brat, it is about that fish-girl. We will never allow her to be married into our clan, especially since Kureno is a son of the main house. If he were not of the main line like you…" Shigure gasped as the woman placed her slender fingers under his chin and lifted his face. "Tell me, Shigure-kun. Am I beautiful?" Shigure nodded.

"You are the most beautiful woman in the world, Ren…"

"The exact words that man used," Ren slapped Shigure across the face. It did not sting much. "How do you feel about Kagura-chan?" she asked.

"I-I love her like a sister…" Shigure stuttered. "The boy has no love for me. He will force me to leave here. Where can we go, Shigure?" Ren mused. "Where can Kagura and I go?"

"I'll never let anyone hurt Kagura, Ren-sama!"

* * *

"Arisa's not a suspect! Quit treating her like one!" Kinta protested when he saw a policeman standing outside the ward.

"Akechi Ken," the policeman fished out his ID. "Toyama Kintaro," Kinta shook the hand offered to him grumpily. He had no intention of using DDS ID at this point, since they were not on official DDS business yet. "Toyama, you wouldn't be Chief Toyama's son, will you? Enrolled at Detective Dan School."

Sohma Mamoru stepped up. "We're not looking at Uotani-san as a suspect yet. Only a possible witness." The younger detective reminded Kinta of a certain cocky Tokyo University student from Class A. "Yah, right," Kinta muttered under his breath. "And I'm Dr Watson."

"We would like to verify some things with you regarding what happened…"

"Look, my friends and I gave you our statements yesterday," Kinta said. "We have found Uotani missing after lunch and went looking for her. We thought she might have taken a walk and got lost in the woods."

"How coincidental that we have her next to a dead body," Mamoru continued. "Wasn't there a hatchet missing from the Hanajima place? Something that could be used as a weapon? Kazuma-sensei mentioned that it his statement. You were all concerned that she might do something foolish, weren't you? Maybe she whacked Sohma Akito on the head with it before falling down the slope herself."

"That would be if Akito was well enough to be strolling about the woods, wouldn't it?" Ryu said calmly. The commotion outside had drawn him and Kyu out. "Akito was only wearing his socks and those were clean. There was no other footwear about. The trail's steep and slippery there… no exactly a walk for an invalid."

"Yeah, and the only hatchet was with that Sohma boy!" Kyu added. "Unless Uotani could get into the Sohma compound without being noticed or Akito was running about the woods, I don't see how she could hurt Akito. My guess is someone dumped him there and Arisa slipped off the trail during her walk. It's only her bad luck she ended up near the body… the trail's steep there and for one not so familiar with the place…"

Mamoru spluttered. "Look here you amateurs, leave the police work to professionals like us!"

"Amateurs? I bet we've cracked more cases than you!" Kinta shouted. "Cool it, Kinta," Ryu warned. The last thing they needed was an ugly confrontation with a policeman in the hospital. "Eh, Mamoru… give it a break already. We've got their DDS pathologist looking at the body…" Mamoru's partner cut in. The Class Q boys looked at each other. That could only be one person – Maki-sensei.

"Nothing but the best for Akito, I suppose," Mamoru muttered under his breath and stepped away, as just Maki-sensei came up to them. "Maki-sensei, what are you doing here?"

"I was holidaying in the next town when I got a call from the local police," he explained. "Their pathologist came down with acute appendicitis and was hospitalised. I thought I could help out my old friend Akechi a bit. We happen to be in the same birdwatchers club for a while before he moved out here."

"Hey, Maki-san, have you seen any cranes this season?" Akechi greeted Maki warmly when he passed the autopsy report to him. The men were soon talking about their bird-watching exploits. "Could you tell us how the victim died please?" Kyu asked. Akechi hesitated. Kyu turned to Maki. "Sensei, could we get clearance from Dan-sensei to look into this case, please?" he wheedled. "Well, I will need to make a call first…" Maki relented. "If you must know…" he dropped his voice a little. "Akito died of a broken neck."

"He broke his neck? I thought he was bashed on the head!" Kyu exclaimed. Ryu immediately clapped a hand over his friend's mouth before he could disclose their investigations to any prying ears. Hanajima Megumi peered curiously out of the ward. His sister seized him by the shoulder and yanked him back in. The pair had been constant companions to Uotani during her hospital stay. Ryu did not doubt that both had their ears peeled for any interesting titbit from the police. "Maki-san, if it is possible, I could read the report now," Ryu suggested. He quickly skimmed through the report before returning it to Maki. "Arigato, sensei," he quickly walked off. Kyu and Kinta followed.

* * *

They found themselves at the local dessert shop that had been recommended by Arisa. Kinta had selected a table in the corner of the store. After their sundaes arrived, Ryu disclosed what he had read earlier. Akito had died of a broken neck, but he had also suffered blunt-force trauma to the head and a deep stab wound to his stomach. Traces of arsenic were also found in his stomach and hair samples. He had been found wearing a thin yukata, the sort often worn as a night garment. Foreign hairs were also recovered from the garment. The hairs were described as being an unusual orange-blond shade.

"Of course, the arsenic was only a preliminary result. Maki-sensei has sent the samples for further tests to confirm. But it could be the side-effect of some medication he was talking for his illness. The medical records state that he was suffering from leukaemia," Ryu explained. "Man, they must really hate him, even that cop," Kinta said. "I hope Dan-sensei lets us investigate…" It had gone from a missing person case to murder and Kureno was nowhere in sight.

"I hear from Saki that Arisa will be released this afternoon…" Kyu said. "Hey, that's that Yuki and Haru-san coming over…" the boy waved to the pair. Ryu immediately clammed up.

"Amakusa-san, I was looking for you," Yuki greeted Ryu oblivious to Kinta and Kyu. "I do apologize for our poor manners but you really must stay with us… The Hanajimas are nothing but a pair of charlatans…"

"Does this invitation happen to extend to my friends?" Ryu asked icily. Hastuharu stepped forward aggressively but Yuki restrained him. "I am sure suitable accommodations can be found for them."

"Enough room for guests but no room for Kazuma-sensei to run his dojo?" a voice piped up. Kyo stood up at the next table. He had gone unobserved by Kinta when they first entered the store, possibly due to the large potted plant he was sitting behind.

"Sohma clan has no room for bastards like you and Kazuma-san broke that rule the day he took you in…"

"Really? Then I believe a fair number of us will be disowned by the clan, including you…"

"Haru, let's see how loud this alley cat can yowl," Yuki snapped a command to his taller companion. Wordlessly, Hatsuharu grabbed Kyo by the collar, lifted him off the ground and punched him several times in the face before tossing him against a wall of framed photographs. Kyo had not had the time to react before he was lying in a battered heap of shattered frames and spitting out blood. The ferocity of the attack stunned the young detectives.

"I look forward to your presence at dinner tonight," Yuki said to Ryu before he and Hatsuharu left. "Are the Sohmas some yakuza clan?" Kinta exclaimed as he went to Kyo's aid. The young man was sporting a bleeding nose and a black eye. Still, he shook off Kinta's help and got up alone. He spat out a loose molar. "I will tell my sis to cook porridge tonight," a little boy's voice piped up. Hanajima Megumi was standing in the open door of the store, surveying the damage.

Kyo picked up a smashed frame from the wreckage, then another. Kyu saw that they were all sepia photos of the town. They appear to have been taken in the last twenty years. One showed a young family at a picnic. The little boy looked familiar. "That's me, my mom and my dad," Kyo pointed out the faces to Kyu and then paused. "At least I thought he was my dad until that accident when I was six."

"He found out?" Kinta asked. "Got a broom?" A waitress was already sweeping up the smithereens. He helped to straighten the frames on the wall and remove those broken. Megumi pitched in as well.

"The crash killed my mom and put me in the ICU. I needed a blood transfusion. I was an O positive. My dad's AB. I checked it up in the library later. He couldn't have a kid who has blood type O. Impossible. He just walked out of my life after that. The elders wanted to put me in some orphanage far away but Kazuma sensei took me in… Damn, he's going to be so disappointed in me picking a fight with Yuki…" Kyo placed the frames neatly on the nearby table.

"I will go to that dinner," Ryu said. "Maybe you guys should come along too." Kinta looked at him dumbfounded. "Are you nuts?"

"You're going to attend that dinner to find out more, aren't you?" Kyu asked. Ryu nodded. "Count me out," Kinta said. "Watch that punk Haru. He's dangerous." Hatsuharu had showed amazing tenderness towards that comatose girl in the hospital, teenaged indifference in their earlier encounters at the Sohma place and in the hills. Coldly beating the crap out of Kyo was something he had not expected.

"Not so," Megumi mused. "He is troubled about matters of the heart and easily misled. However, he is as stubborn as an ox once his mind is set to it. Oh, we found that hatchet. Haru returned it to Kazuma-sensei. He borrowed it. Said he needed it for building something."

**Author's Notes:**

Yuki's being mean to Kyo here. Poor Kyo's shooting his mouth off and getting beat up for it. Dinner with the Sohmas sounds daunting. Ryu will probably end up sitting next to some young lady while Kyu may uncover some hidden motive or scandal. The blood type thing is true. Blood types are hereditary to an extent. Your biological parents' blood types will affect your blood type.

In the manga, Kyo is rejected by his father because of the curse. In this fic, it is because he is not biologically his dad's kid.


	9. Dinner Party

Disclaimer: All the Detective School Q and Fruit Basket characters belong to their respective creators.

**9****. Dinner Party**

"Ryu, are you sure it is safe to go alone?" Kyu had asked earlier. "Maybe Kinta and I can tag along…"

"Kyu, I'll be perfectly fine," Ryu had replied.

Standing before the grand house, he started to wish he had Kyu with him. A reception desk had been set up, manned by Shigure and his sister. A stream of villagers and others from further away, no doubt relatives and family friends, had lined up to sign the guest book before paying their respects. He spotted the two policemen loitering at the doorway of a storage shed.

"Amakusa-san!" It was Kagura who spotted him and waved to him in a manner that was far too cheerful for a solemn occasion. She was wearing a formal kimono of indigo. She trotted over. "Come on, Yuki-sama will be so glad you could make it." She ushered him into the house. Ryu recognized Hatsuharu lounging against a tree. The teen had swapped his punk getup for a grey yukata.

Ryu observed the mourners carefully. Few were actually crying or showing outward signs of grief. Akito was lying in an open casket filled with white lilies. If she had expected to find Yuki in the grand hall where the wake was held, Kagura was disappointed. She scanned the crowd of mourners for a familiar face, finally spotting one blond head.

"Momiji, have you seen Yuki-sama?" Kagura asked. "He's in the dining hall speaking to his mother before she zips back to Tokyo," Momiji replied. He had overheard the pair chatting about selling off some of the Sohma land for profit. "Shall I get the servants to serve dinner?"

"Thank you, Momiji, please do. Ask them to open up the tea-room, too." Yuki might want to speak with their guest alone after dinner. "Opening up the tea room? Who is this visitor who could warrant such attention from Yuki?" the beautiful woman who spoke was tall, with flowing black hair. She wore only a low-cut diaphanous black gown which did little to conceal her figure as she sashayed in. There was a murmur of shock in the assembled mourners before a man Ryu recognized as the doctor leapt up from his seat and gently steered her out of the hall.

"Sorry, that's Aunt Ren," Kagura explained. "Akito's mother?" Ryu asked. The older girl nodded.

* * *

Dinner was a stilted affair. They made some polite conversation over dinner. The food was excellent, a feast of delicacies both local and imported. Ryu observed the other diners as he ate. Yuki sat at the head of the table. He occasionally spoke to discuss the funeral rites and arrangements with Hatori, the doctor, or make small talk with Ryu. Hatsuharu was seated next him. The blond Momiji, Hiro and Kisa were seated at the far end. Kisa wore an oversized wool hat on her head. Kagura and two servants served the dishes and poured juice. Shigure was absent from the dinner.

"Do the police suspect foul play regarding Akito's death?" Yuki asked. Kisa started trembling violently at the mention of the deceased Akito. She dropped her spoon with a noisy clatter. Kagura started and spilled the soup she had been ladling onto Hiro's grilled scallops, earning a glare from the annoyed boy.

"I believe being bashed on the head, stabbed, being poisoned and dumped over a cliff is enough reason for them to suspect foul play, don't you think?" Ryu replied. At the mention of poison, Momiji choked on his tea. Kisa was looking visibly sick now. Hiro rose from his seat and took her arm, gently ushering her out. The topic of murder was not clearly not one for the dinner table. However, Yuki seemed fairly interested in continuing that thread of conversation. "By the way, where's Shigure-san?" Ryu asked, desperate to change the topic.

"He is probably preparing his bow," Yuki explained nonchalantly. "Tomorrow, Shigure and I will compete at archery at dawn before the cremation. It is a quaint custom unique to our clan. At the funeral of a clan head, the practice is to hold an archery competition for the gods' pleasure. Two males of the clan, one from the main house and one from the side, will compete. Naturally, the side house is expected to lose, which is an easy thing for Shigure, right?" Everyone turned to look at Shigure as he entered the room.

"Yuki, is it true what I just heard from your mother?" Shigure was furious. Hatsuharu immediately stood up and placed himself between the clan head and Shigure. The servants scurried out.

"Shigure, what happened?" Hatori asked. "That woman has just told Kagura and me to clear out by this month. I'm surprised you haven't been told yet, Hatori. They are selling the property, including the house!" Shigure roared.

"We are just developing the land for the best interests of the clan. The hills will be developed for holiday chalets. The main house will be rebuilt as a spa or hotel," Yuki continued. "For me, I intend to leave this town and further my studies abroad. As for Hatori, I believe you should be able find alternative places for you and your charges." The doctor looked meekly downwards without comment. Momiji was stunned. Even Hatsuharu looked unsettled.

"What about Aunt Ren?" Kagura said. "That woman will be sent to a suitable medical institute. You'd arrange for that, wouldn't you, doctor? As well as Izuru," Yuki said. Hatori nodded and muttered an excuse to leave the table. Everyone watched as he left. Momiji made an excuse and followed after him. Hatsuharu threw his rice bowl on the floor and followed. He stopped at the doorway to shoot a glare in Yuki's direction.

"Kagura, you may clear their dishes. I believe they've had enough," Yuki ordered, ignoring the still-fuming Shigure. Kagura seized Hiro's meal tray and grabbed her brother by his sleeve, pulling hi out as they left. The dinner effectively in shambles, Yuki resumed his meal. Ryu glanced about the now bereft dining hall and pushed away his tray. "Really, you shouldn't let them affect your appetite," Yuki chatted. "So do the cops have any ideas on who did it?"

Ryu was fumbling for a suitable reply when…

"Hello, beloved baby brother!" a loud voice boomed. Yuki choked on his rice. Ryu gaped in amazement as a literal whirlwind of rainbow-hued satin and feathers burst into the room. The newcomer was a tall platinum blond, who seized Yuki and lifted him up in a bear-hug. "Congrats on becoming clan head!" Rainbow feathers flew as Yuki struggled to free himself. "Ayame! Let go of me! You are banned from stepping into this house!"

"No reprieve for even your big brother? How heartless of you…" Ayame continued his hugs, rainbow feather boa flapping. Ryu noticed a young lady standing awkwardly by the doorway. She was wearing a kimono with delicate embroidery. "E-er, h-hello…" she squeaked before fleeing down the corridor. The siblings Shigure and Kagura returned. "Shigure! Kagura! Remove them from the premises!" Yuki shouted. Shigure stood with his arms folded, a smile on his face. Kagura giggled behind her sleeves. Finally exhausting his greeting, Ayame released his brother.

"Hello, everyone! I brought presents from Tokyo!" The commotion had drawn the servants as well as other members of the family out. Ryu noticed that Kureno and Ren were not present. Ayame worked his way through the mob, handing out sweets to the children, smacking Hatori on the back in a friendly manner and giving a kiss on the cheek to Kagura. "Ritsu made a pouch for you, Kagura. His own design," Ayame said. "Come on, Ritsu, give it to her!" The orange-haired woman timidly pulled out a small paper bag from her sleeve.

"Why, thank you, Ri-san!" Kagura squealed in delight and kissed Ritsu on her cheek. The atmosphere outside the dining hall was positively festive. "Aya, Ri-san, meet Amakusa Ryu. He's from Tokyo too!" Kagura grabbed Ryu by the elbow and pulled him out. "Hey, you're that DDS boy who cracked that murder case in Shibuya! Is your friend with the pigtails with you? Here's my name card! You can take her shopping at my store when you're in Shibuya or you could pick up something for yourself…" Ayame gushed and pressed his card into Ryu's hands. "Here, take some discount vouchers too!"

"Gee, thanks…" Ryu stuffed both vouchers and card into his pocket after looking at it. He could always pass it to Kyu or Megumi later. "Amakusa, I would like a word…" Yuki started. Before he could complete, Ryu was whisked away by Ayame. "So have they shown you the naughty shrine and the town's risqué foodstuff? No, you're missing out on experiencing our town! Come along, I'll remedy that! Haru, Momi, game for some fun?"

* * *

"Man, that's complex… so you are saying that a side house is descended from the illegitimate offspring of the Sohma clan heads. Wow, that's a lot of people," Kinta remarked. Kyo nodded. "Of course, like my sensei, most Sohmas of the side houses will bolt the first chance they got. If you are a side-house Sohma, you are only slightly better than a servant."

"Dinner's ready," Arisa called. "Do you guys have any leads on Kureno's whereabouts?"

"Working on it," Kyu pored over the same map he had been working over for the last two hours. It was a crude map Kyo had provided them with. "If he was held in the main compound, there's no way Momiji or Hiro could have missed that. You may wish to check out the abandoned buildings and caves in the hills."

"Wouldn't that involve trespassing?" Kinta asked. Kyo nodded.

"Are you guys, coming? The rice is getting cold," Saki warned.

"Say, who is in the main house now?" Kinta asked. "By default the clan head, his immediate family and his heir. Currently that would be Yuki, Aunt Ren, mother to late Akito. Yuki's mother is probably in as well, but the rules require them to live on the compound for at least two thirds of the year. Yuki's mom spends most of her time zipping about the world. There's Kureno, Hatori, Momiji too. They are nephews or grandnephews of earlier clan heads. Legitimate, naturally. Shigure and Kagura's the last of the side house Sohmas still living there. Wait, Kisa and Hiro are under Hatori's care. Hatsuharu also. They are side-house Sohmas," Kyo explained. "My father was a main house Sohma, before he disappeared."

"So the clan head post is passed to the eldest son or nearest male relation?" Kyu asked. The three boys took their places at the Hanajimas' table. Saki had made curry rice.

"Mostly, but not always," Master Kazuma cut in. "Clan heads may chose a younger son or even adopt a nephew. They may even name a daughter as their heir. Before Akito was born, there was a bit of a scandal. Akito's father had a younger brother who already had two boys. Akito's grandfather made a decision to name the younger son as heir since Akito's father was still childless. Then before it became final, Ren produced Akito. Akito's grandfather saw how sickly Akito looked as an infant and named his younger son as heir. Sadly, Akito's uncle and cousins were killed in a car crash a few months later. So his father became clan head."

"So after Akito, Yuki's the clan head," Kyu said. Kyo snickered. "Only if the elders acknowledge him. Akito's father wanted to adopt him, but his wife and Yuki's mother refused. The elders will seize on this to discredit his claim. There is also the question of his illegitimacy…"

"Kyo, I have spoken to the elders earlier. Yuki will be recognized officially as clan head tomorrow," Kazuma said. Kyo cursed and punched the air in disgust. "The old fools, what's the big idea?"

"Yuki's mom has offered them large investment opportunity. They intend to develop this area as a hot springs resort. Saki was approached to sell her family's property when we were marketing."

"Saki, did you agree?" Kyo asked. The phone rang and Saki went to answer it. She returned shortly.

"It was the Sohma's estate agent. I told them I needed to consult the spirits first," Saki said. The decision had already been made. She was not selling her land to the Sohma. "They intend to tear down the main house and build a hotel there," Kazuma added. "Other people have also been approached. It is going to be difficult for our town to remain as it is…" Megumi quietly got up from his seat and walked to the side of the room. Kyu followed him, curious. The boy took a wax doll that hung from the rafters and stuffed it into a shoebox.

"What are you doing?" Kyu asked.

"Putting a spell on the Sohma so they will leave us alone," the boy replied. "Megumi, come on, leave it be," Saki said quietly. Megumi obediently tossed the shoebox and wax doll aside.

* * *

_Late night, Sohma compound main hall._

Yuki cursed the distant ancestor who had set the rules and rituals for succession. As future clan head, he had to keep a solo vigil by oil lamp or candle before the open casket. Yuki almost wished he had someone to keep company with him other than the embalmed corpse. All the other lights in the house had been turned off. The other members of the family should be asleep in their rooms. They had locked Ren in hers before dinner. Yuki was fuming. He had not managed to speak with Ryu alone as he had hoped. Instead, Amakusa was whirled off by the excitement of his brother's return. The thought galled him. It was outrageous how well-received Ayame was. Ritsu spend the evening chatting with Kagura on fashipn. That freak even made a gown for Ren. Hatsuharu had returned with Momiji, both amazingly drunk although they were below the legal age for drinking. To his chagrin, Hatori and Shigure had decided to put up these unwelcome guests.

The wind howled and rustled the branches outside. Then he heard it, a slight footstep. "Shigure?" Yuki called out into the darkness. His heart was thumping. It could be Shigure making his rounds, nothing more. Yuki coughed and lifted his inhaler to his mouth. He cursed his asthma and the lilies in the open casket. He had specified white chrysanthemums but the florist in the next town sent lilies and Kagura had filled up the casket without noticing the mistake. The pollen was torture on his sinuses. There was a faint scratching sound from behind the funerary hangings.

"I know you are here, show yourself," Yuki called out into the darkness. There was someone behind him. There was a flash of something bright. Yuki fled. He needed somewhere to hide.

**Author's Notes:**

Some dinner party, culture shock for Ryu where Ayame is concerned. How did he get the 2 15-year-olds drunk? Is Ryu going to wake up with a hangover?


	10. Class Q arrives

Disclaimer: All the Detective School Q and Fruit Basket characters belong to their respective creators.

**10. ****Class Q arrives**

"Man, you should have seen yourself. Lipstick on your face, and that cartoon face on your tummy. It must've been some wild party," Kinta chuckled and thumped him on the back. "Met any sexy gals?" His classmates looked almost envious. The Hanajima sibs looked, well, bored. Arisa spent the whole night fretting and was sleeping in after Saki slipped her a sleeping pill. Kazuma-sensei had gone to attend the funeral rites. Ryu pushed aside his breakfast.

"I feel sick…" Ryu groaned. His head was pounding. "Try this. It's a local cure for hangover," Kyo poured out a mud-coloured liquid into Ryu's mug. "I can't believe Ayame took you to that seedy pub in the next town. Like the striptease?" he grinned wickedly when Ryu looked even more ill. Kyu's jaw dropped.

"Striptease? Oh gods, why didn't you ask me along too!" Kinta wailed in mock grief. Ryu grabbed the mug from Kyo and gulped down the foul-tasting concoction, almost choking. Saki stoically thumped him on the back. "Slow down, you can't gulp it down in one go. Not without being sick, at least."

"I guess we will be one short when poking about the hills later, I suppose," Kyo glanced at the haversacks and ropes he had prepared. "I know where most of the hidey-holes are, I think. There may be as many as a hundred or so."

"Boys, we have a slight problem… Yuki is missing," Kazuma-sensei said as he stepped into the house. Morning found the Sohma residence in chaos. Kazuma-sensei had gone to the wake, learnt of the problem and promptly returned to get help from the DDS students.

* * *

They found the place in chaos. Servants and various clan members were searching the compound. "We just can't find him! I went to bring him his breakfast and water for washing, but the hall was empty!" An indigo kimono-wearing Kagura moaned as she threw her hands up in despair. "What shall we do?" she pleaded as she greeted the DDS students. Kazuma drew aside to speak with the monk overseeing the funeral. Shigure was clad in his ceremonial best, but looking flustered as he paced about the makeshift archery range with his bow in hand. The sunlight glinted off the bronze trimming on his breastplate and the silver on his gauntlets. He looked every bit like the retainer of a samurai family. Hatsuharu was whacking his way through the bushes.

"Yuki, little bro! Come out, come out wherever you are!" Ayame bellowed from an upstairs window. There was a peal of gleeful laughter from within the house. "I believe it is time for her medicine," Hatori stopped opening cabinets and went to Ren's rooms. "Oh dear…" Momiji moaned and dashed into a corner of the garden where he was promptly sick. He was feeling the brunt of a hangover. A sympathetic Ryu thumped him on the back as he spewed onto a pile of dying lilies behind an ornamental tree. _Lilies?_ Ryu frowned.

"It's a tradition. The next head has to spend the night before the cremation in the hall alone… Yuki went in there when I went to sleep about ten thirty. Hatori saw him, well, at least his shadow through the shoji when Momiji and Hatsuharu came back about midnight. My bro last saw the lights on when he went about his rounds at three…"

She rubbed her hands on her skirts as she led the remaining Kyu and Kinta into the hall where the restless mourners have gathered. Among them was detectives Akechi and Sohma Mamoru. Ritsu, Hiro and Kisa were seated in the first row. There was still no sign of Kureno.

"Is the coffin meant to be sealed?" Kinta asked. The casket was a western-style coffin, devoid of the usual window at the face. Surely the body was not in that bad a state. He approached the coffin for a closer look under the guise of paying his respects.

"Well, the archery competitors would have to seal it before the competition… We hold a ceremonial archery contest before sending the corpse for cremation. But if the head wishes to seal it beforehand…" she shrugged prettily. "Hey, we need more seat cushions here!" a moustached mourner in the back row ordered. "Coming!" Kagura hurried out.

"Feeling better, Momi?" Hatsuharu asked gently. "Not fair, how come I always get sick…" Momiji moaned. "Help me in… Want to get a good seat…" he kicked against something as he climbed up the steps. "Strange," Hatsuharu frowned as he picked the object up. "Yuki never goes anywhere without this…" he slipped the object into his pocket but not before Ryu caught a glimpse of it. It was an inhaler commonly used by asthmatics.

Hatsuharu stepped into the hall with Momiji and Ryu. Kinta saw Sohma Mamoru nudge his partner. The cops got to their feet just as Hatsuharu settled his green-faced cousin in the front row. Ryu slipped over to his friends. "Guys, I think we may want to look at that…" he discreetly pointed towards the coffin. Several things happened almost immediately.

"Hatsuharu, you're to come with us to assist in the investigation of the death of Sohma Akito," Mamoru said. "Your prints have been found on a wheelbarrow with traces of the deceased's blood…"

"You have nothing on me! That wheelbarrow could have been used by anyone if it's the one from our garden," Hatsuharu argued as he shrugged free of the policeman's grasp. "We found it near what appears to be your love nest with your girlfriend…"

"Leave Rin out of this!" Hatsuharu snapped. He seized the older man and hurled him bodily half-across the hall. The policeman crashed into the coffin. Hatsuharu tried to flee but Kazuma-sensei was faster. He pounced on the younger boy and tried to restrain him. "Calm down, Haru! You're in enough trouble already!" The teen paid him no heed. More young men came to Kazuma's aid.

"Watch out!" Kyu shouted. The coffin teetered and fell off its stands, spilling its cargo of lilies and a body, no two. Women shrieked and men shouted. "Call a doctor!" someone yelled. "Get an ambulance!" Hatori came running towards the coffin. He shoved the embalmed corpse of Akito aside and rolled Yuki onto his back. He felt for a pulse. Yuki looked very dead. His lips had gone blue.

"Breathe, Yuki! Don't you_ dare_ die on us!" Hatori pounded the young man's chest and blew into that gaping mouth. Rigor had not set in yet, but the body was cool to the touch. The doctor feared the worst.

Unnoticed by most, Hiro sneaked up the discarded corpse of Akito and gave a hard kick to the head. Kinta almost swore he heard the bone crack. "What gives, boy?" he grabbed the lad by the wrist. "He hurt Kisa," Hiro replied as if that explained everything. He shook Kinta's hand off and retreated into the safety of the crowd.

"Everyone out! You, Toyama, get everyone out in the other hall. Get Momiji to show you! Akechi! Secure this scene!" Sohma Mamoru ordered although he was in severe pain. Kinta nodded. Ryu and Kyu gently coaxed the mourners out and with Momiji's directions, led them to another room while Hatori remained performing CPR on Yuki. Hastuharu had to be dragged out between two sturdy youths, his wrists bound with the belt from Kazuma's surcoat.

"What happened?" Kagura asked. "Sorry, ma'am. Room's off-limits…" Kinta apologised as he pulled the sliding-doors shut behind him.

The ambulance arrived five minutes later and Sohma Yuki was declared dead at the scene despite the doctor's valiant efforts. Sohma Mamoru was whisked off for treatment of a possible fractured arm. A protesting Hatsuharu was whisked off in a police car to face charges of assaulting an officer.

* * *

"It's official, DDS has been called in," Dan's voice crackled over the communicator. Ryu made a mental note to re-charge the batteries soon. He was running flat. Meanwhile, Kyu and Kinta were combing the hall for clues under the watchful eyes of Akechi and Mamoru. Mamoru's arm was in a sling and he wore a scowl on his face. Yuki was wearing only his yukata. His ceremonial armour, bow and quiver were to be brought to him after he completed his solo vigil. He had asphyxiated. Hatori admitted that he had a medical history of asthma. His inhaler was found in Hatsuharu's pocket when the teen was searched at the station. Hastuharu swore he had picked it up from the ground outside the hall. Hatori and Kazuma had gone to the station to see if they could bail him out.

_Yuki's socks had dirt on it. The back of his yukata too, under the pollen from the lilies… someone could have dragged him through the garden… _Kyu thought as he crawled backwards over the tatami. "Watch the coffin, squirt!" Kinta called out a warning as Kyu backed up against the casket. Kyu hurriedly stopped. The tatami yielded nothing of interest. He turned his attention to the contents of the casket. The cremation had been postponed for now. Akito's body had placed on a clean mat under a blanket. The casket was still half-filled with crushed lilies.

"Maybe there is something here…" Kyu peered into the lilies. "Whoever put him in there tossed out some of the lilies to make room," Ryu explained. Any evidence on the discard lilies was probably ruined by Momiji tossing on them. "He was still alive when he went in… Maki said the time of death was about five." Kyu pointed at some bloody scratches on the inside of the casket. Yuki's fingernails had been torn to shreds. The lid was deceptively heavy. It had taken both Akechi and Kinta to lift it.

"What's this?" Kinta's sharp eyes spotted a bit of indigo cloth caught in the crack in the wood. Any further discussion was forestalled by Kagura's arrival with refreshments. "Tea?" she had not changed out of her kimono yet. "Leave it outside, the room's off-limits," Akechi said. The girl placed the tea tray outside the room. Feeling thirsty, Ryu and Kyu went out. Kagura poured them each a drink.

The boys glanced across the yard at the sounds of a commotion. Shigure was crossing the walled courtyard with a laden basket in hand.

"Gure, I know you know where Kureno is…" Ayame's voice hissed as he trailed closely behind. Shigure stopped. "He's the next in line after my brother, where is he?"

"He will never be clan head, not if he insists on marrying that girl…" Shigure said quietly. "Shigure, I can't believe I am hearing this from you! Where is Kureno?" Ayame threw up his hands, black feathered boa flapping.

"I don't know. Let me pass…" Shigure hurried off. He had spotted the observers across the yard. "You have been sleeping with that woman, haven't you?" Ayame was practically screaming as he hurried after Shigure. His plan was thwarted when a weeping Ritsu staggered out of a nearby room. "So sorry! The fish died! I didn't mean to kill them!" Ayame held the trembling Ritsu. A glowering Hiro stepped out with a bowl in which several goldfish had gone belly-up. Ayame found himself trying to placate the furious boy.

"I thought he brought lunch to Aunt Ren already…" Kagura mused. "Unlikely, did you notice what shoes he was wearing?" Kyu said quietly. Ryu nodded. Shigure was wearing sturdy boots instead of soft slippers he would have used in the compound. He seemed to be dressed for a trek into the hills.

"We better find Kyo…" The teen seemed to know the hills like the back of his hand.

"Looking for me?" Kyo dropped lightly out of a tree. "Kyo-kun!" Kagura hugged him. "I saw Shigure leave. Hey, will you guys pipe down?" he stopped to yell at the knot of squabbling Sohmas.

"Ritsu killed my fish!"

"No, you probably overfed them!" Ayame retorted. "Here, take Ritsu while I teach this brat some manners…" Ayame shoved the willowy Ritsu in Kyo's direction. Kagura took Ritsu's hand and led the transvestite over to the pair of DDS students. Kyo tried to defuse the argument. Kagura ran over to assist. Kyu swallowed as he glanced over at Ritsu.

_What a chick!_ Long eyelashes, longer than even Megumi's. Flowing orange-tinted hair. Slender legs peeked out from the slit of her kimono… Those hands were graced by slender fingers.

"Hi, I'm Renjou Kyu…" he scratched his head awkwardly. "Sohma Ritsu…" her voice was like that some sexy singer. She was so demure and lady-like, unlike Megumi… but Megumi was still a schoolgirl…

"I- whoops!" The cup of lukewarm tea in Kyu's hand slipped and emptied over the front of his pants. "Oh, I'm sorry, so sorry…" Ritsu knelt before Kyu, took out an embroidered hanky and started to pat at the wet patch. Kyu gasped as sensations of pleasure shot through his groin. The Sohmas were still wrangling. Ryu noticed Kyu's odd reaction. He tugged at his friend's sleeve. "Kyu, stop…"

"Is this ok?" Ritsu asked. "More, please…" Kyu muttered. "Er, my undies are wet too." Twin spots of red emerged on Ritsu's cheeks. "Er… alright…"

Kyu gasped as slender fingers undid his fly. She was so close he could smell the fragrance of her hair shampoo. Ryu tugged harder on his sleeve. "_Kyu_…" A trio of newcomers had just entered the courtyard.

"KYU! What are you doing?" a shrill voice sliced through the air.

"Megumi?" Minanmi Megumi scowled at him. Narusawa Kazuma was happily snapping with his mobile phone. Behind the Class Q students, Maki-sensei was making a show of cleaning his glasses. The Sohmas have stopped arguing and were staring bug-eyed at them.

"Hey, Kyu! Dan-sensei says he's sending Megumi and Kazu-chan up. Whoa! Kyu my man! Why do you have a pretty girl kneeling in front of you? And why's your fly open and her fingers there?" Kinta hollered as he stepped out of the crime scene. Ayame marched up to Kyu and boxed his ears before hurrying a bewildered Ritsu away. Megumi slapped Kyu before fuming off. "You are so dead," Kazuma said matter-of-factly before following Megumi out.

"Ryu, why didn't you tell me?" Kyu rubbed his sore cheeks. "I tried to," Ryu said.

"Er, there is something else you should know…" Kyo stated. "Ritsu is a male."

"What?" Kyu's knees buckled.

**Author's Notes:**

I introduced the last 2 members of Class Q to the mix now. To differentiate from Hanajima Megumi and Sohma Kazuma, I will refer to Minami Megumi as Megu and Sohma Kazuma as Kazuma-sensei.


	11. Potions and Poisons

Disclaimer: All the Detective School Q and Fruit Basket characters belong to their respective creators.

Noted the potential for jacking up the rating on this fic. Relax, Kyu will not have any more close encounters of that kind. This will remain T-rated.

Narusawa Kazuma will be referred to as Kazuma, Sohma Kazuma as Kazuma-sensei. Minami Megumi as Megu, Hanajima Megumi as Megumi.

**11.**** Potions and Poisons**

"Megumi, I need help. Do you have any love potions or such I can use?"

Megumi looked up from his homework as Kyu burst in through the door. "What happened?" Arisa and Saki looked up from the curtain they were mending. "I need a love spell to win Megumi's affection!" Kyu exclaimed. There was a pause of uncomfortable silence. Arisa started cracking her knuckles while young Megumi scooted over to his sister. Saki was glaring at Kyu with suspicion.

"Relax, he means his girlfriend, Minami Megumi," Kinta explained. "Where's Kyo?"

"He asked for shovels to dig up Kureno-san and Arisa-san freaked and smacked him with a broom," the schoolboy whispered. "Kazuma-sensei and Kyo then went out to let Arisa-san cool down."

"Girlfriend trouble? Sorry, we don't do love potions. Have you tried apologizing, Kyu? You're probably in the wrong," Saki said sagely. "I tried, but she refused to listen to me!" Kyu protested. Megu was staying in the local inn with Narusawa Kazuma and Maki-sensei. Kyu had already spent the better part of an hour kneeling outside her room while Maki and Kazuma watched.

"You bet! He was almost getting a hand-job from that transvestite…" Kinta guffawed. Kyu was beetroot red. "I didn't know he's a he! I mean he looked really pretty… Right, Ryu?"

Ryu had just stepped into the room and coughed. He was not alone. "Renjou Kyu, what did you just say?" Megu yelled. "Wah! What're you doing here?" Kyu leapt back and fell onto the tatami. "Are you saying you actually liked him until you found out he's a he?" Megu shouted. She grabbed him by the lapels and shook him. Ryu shook his head in dismay. It had taken a half-hour to convince Megu to come to the Hanajima place to hear Kyu out. Kinta was laughing into his hands. A little smile was dancing on Arisa's lips. The Hanajimas shrugged and went back to their work.

* * *

Kyo scowled as he rubbed the sore spot on his bandaged head where Arisa's broom had found its mark. He had been too blunt. He believed it was unlikely Kureno was among the living. He mused if asking Saki to do a séance could put them in touch with Kureno, or the deceased Yuki and Akito. He slid off the examining table and plodded out into the hallway.

"She's still in a deep coma," Kazuma-sensei's voice said from one of the rooms. Kyo dropped to his knees and stealthily crawled along the veranda to the slightly ajar door. Hatori was sitting in his armchair smoking. "Hatori, this is sucking the life out of you. You need a break. Put Rin in a nursing home; leave the kids to me… Take a vacation or leave for post in a Tokyo hospital…"

"No," Hatori shook his head. "You know I can't leave…" the younger man poured out another glass of wine. "The keeper of the family's secrets can't leave."

"That duty killed your father, Hatori," Kazuma-sensei said. "Stop that now…" Kyo watched his teacher grab Hatori's wrist to stop him from swallowing several pills. "You're a doctor. You know those aren't good for you."

Footsteps warned Kyo of someone approaching. Lightly, the teen rolled off the veranda and into the crawl space underneath. There was no telltale slide of the shoji opening. Instead, the footsteps paused just outside the room, exactly where he had been eavesdropping. Kyo could not make out most of the words between Hatori and his teacher from his new position. Then…

"What? You have no reason or obligation to cover that up! She should know… Tell them the truth…" Kazuma-sensei's normally calm veneer had cracked. There was a hurried swish of fabric as the eavesdropper made his getaway. Kyo crept out from his hiding place to catch a glimpse of long dark hair and the back of a woman's long black dress and housecoat.

"Who was that, Kyo?" Kazuma-sensei asked from the open doorway. Kyo shrugged. "Doesn't look like a servant…" It could be Kagura. The sun was casting deep shadows in the courtyard.

"You're right, Kazuma…" Hatori emerged from the room, wine glass in hand. "I need a break… take Momiji-chan to Germany to find his mom…" His unsteady gait hinted that it was not his first glass of wine. "Take his other arm, Kyo," Kazuma-sensei ordered. Kyo nodded and obeyed. The pair carefully steered the doctor back into the room. Kyo noticed that Hiro's hapless goldfish were still floating in their bowl.

"What's this?" he picked up the two bottles next to the bowl. One was fish food. The other looked like Akito's vitamins. Perhaps the detectives could solve the mystery of the dead goldfish…

* * *

Ren clenched her fists. She needed to act soon. "Shigure?" she looked up from the photo album in her lap. The young man looked up at his name. "About Kureno… perhaps we could write off that proposed match… I believe there is one more suited for our purpose…" she whispered into his ear.

"But, you can't be serious!" Shigure gasped. "Marriage is only a formality," Ren smiled coldly. "If the next head is married to your sister, your place in this household is secured."

"He will refuse…" Shigure looked away. Kureno had more backbone than anyone had given him credit for. "Then I suppose we could pin our hopes on Hatori," Ren shrugged prettily.

"Ren, this is Kagura we are talking about!" Shigure hissed. Ren backhanded him. "Then she should take her rightful place!" Ren spotted the flare of anger in the young man's eyes. "No. I don't want her to end up like you. She has a right to choose!" Shigure turned to leave. "Leave now and you will regret it, Shigure," Ren purred and studied her carefully manicured nails. "What do you think the elders will do if they learn about us?"

"You wouldn't…" Shigure gasped. He stopped and turned to look at the lovely Ren. _If the elders found out he and the widow of a clan head had… _"Everything will be so much clearer after bed, right?" Ren took his limp hand and led him unresistingly to the futon.

Outside, Hiro pulled a face as he scampered away as silently as he had been eavesdropping. He had seen quite enough.

* * *

"How many times must I apologize?" Kyu complained. Megu had forgiven him, for now. "Remember, Renjou Kyu. The next time you step out of line, it is over," Megu smiled sweetly as Kazuma took notes and drafted a contract on his laptop. Now, he was faced with a grim-looking Sohma Ayame and a red-faced Ritsu. "I believe you owe Ritsu-san an apology," Ryu hinted and nudged Kyu. Saki entered and placed cups of jasmine tea on the table. The others had adjourned outside to allow Kyu time to apologize to the cousins.

"I'm sorry bout what happened… but hey, you could have said no! I am the victim here! I almost got molested by a freak! OW!" Kyu yelped as Ayame's teacup smashed into his face. Ritsu has dissolved into a sobbing fit. "A broken cup is five hundred yen," Saki said calmly.

"I'M SORRYSORRYSORRY!!" Ritsu wailed. "I'm a worthless piece of trash!" Ayame grabbed Ritsu's wrist before he could run out.

"Apologize properly!" Ayame growled at Kyu. The next thing to hit him was not going to be a teacup. "Geez, alright," Kyu threw up his hands. "I'm sorry! I'm going to take a bath now!" The annoyed boy stomped out.

"Everything's alright now, right?" Ayame said softly to the sobbing Ritsu. The young man nodded.

* * *

"The cops found some bloodstains on a rock in the garden. Probably Yuki's. He had a nasty gash on his head. We really ought to check out the hidey hole in the hills where they found that bloody wheelbarrow tomorrow with Kyo. Kyo sent us two bottles and a bowl of dead fish. The case of the dead goldfish, ha ha. The cross-dresser probably mistook the pills for fish pellets. I suppose vitamins for humans could be harmful to fish… but there was some weird white dust on the pills," Kinta related. "Maki-sensei's taking them for tests in the next town. The results should be out by tomorrow. Ah, this natural onsen rocks." Kyu moped grumpily in a corner of the pool. The Hanajimas had a natural hot spring nestled some distance from the house.

"And did you see those two? What do you make of that pair, Ryu? Are they a couple?" Kinta asked when Ryu entered the hot spring. "I wish you've handled that better," Ryu chided. "He could have said no…" Kyu grumbled. "I believe he couldn't…" Ryu explained. "He is a classic case of low self-esteem… he could not turn you down even if you asked something so perverted as that, which I hope you didn't… I hope it's just some misunderstanding," Ryu's tone was icy. "Earlier, I saw Ritsu's arm. He's got scars on his forearm. He's a cutter… Based on my psychology studies, he has probably suffered some form of childhood abuse which caused him pain…" Ryu stopped to look at a very confused Kinta and Kyu. They did not understand a word he had said.

"You got that right," a female voice said. There was a mad scramble for cover by the boys. Arisa looked nonchalant as she stuck a kettle under where the spring water gushed out from the rocks. "There're whispers that he was abused as a child by one of the Sohma elders and they hushed everything up. Ayame tried to expose it but he got driven out of town by them." The kettle filled, she covered it and scrambled up the path.

"Man, that family's screwed up," Kinta muttered. "Where's that child abuser now?"

"Dead," Kyo's voice added. The youth was wearing only a towel round his waist. "Saki charges fifty yen for using the bath so I'm going back to nature." He slipped into the pool.

"Don't worry about that old pervert," a young boy's voice said. "Hiro-kun told me Momiji-kun spiked his nightly whisky with pesticide and everyone thought he died of a stroke. The doc probably hushed that one up too." Hanajima Megumi emerged from the shadows. The yukata-clad youngster was wearing a crown of candles and held a straw dolly and nails in his hands. "By the way guys, my sis says the outdoor pool is hundred yen each, or else…" he looked meaningfully at the nails.

"Got it, we'll pay soon as we're done!" Kinta said. There was no way he was crossing the siblings.

**Author's Notes: **

The guys getting surprised by Arisa at the pool, I had to include that. Spring water is often hailed as the sweetest and purest water in many places. Although sometimes, the spring water may contain sulfur or arsenic (in which case I recommend external use only).


	12. Fire

Disclaimer: All the Detective School Q and Fruit Basket characters belong to their respective creators.

**12. ****Fire **

"Kazuma, do you think I was too harsh on Kyu?" Megu asked as they pored over the copies of the autopsy reports. "I dunno, but you could try going out with someone else for a change, like me!" Kazuma added cheekily and gets hit with a cushion. "It is late, Kazuma-kun, shouldn't you go get some sleep?" Megu said sweetly. "Got it," Kazuma rubbed his nose and went back to his room for the night. Maki-sensei yawned as he returned to the inn lounge with a cup of coffee. He had been with the forensic team in the next town that day.

"Minami-san, you should get some rest too… haven't you got up here straight from the airport?" Maki said. "I just don't want to be left behind by them," Megu pouted as she flipped through the files. Akito had been stabbed, bashed on the head and tossed down a steep slope. He had also been poisoned with arsenic. The next victim had died as a result of asphyxiation as a result of an asthma attack. Yuki had a gash to his head. His fingers were bloodied from where he had clawed at the coffin lid. There was still the missing young man, Kureno…

Megu yawned and rubbed her eyes. It had been a tiring day, and that quarrel with Kyu did not make it any easier. Maki sensei yawned and drifted off to his room. Thinking of Kyu, Megu let out a soft sigh.

"Love problems, my lady?" a mellow voice called out. It was the elder brother of the second victim. Megu stuffed the reports back into their manila envelope. Ayame sat down across the table from her. He had the features of a screen idol, Megu realised. He was wearing a yukata with exotic palm trees and red flowers on it. He looked far too fey to belong in this drab inn.

"Well, my boyfriend is a moron," Megu admitted grudgingly. Ayame laughed. It was a musical sound. "They all are, the ones we love always appear the biggest fools," Ayame said.

"Aren't you staying with your family at the…"

"Ritsu and I moved out after that squabble with Hiro. Hatori's place was packed and Shigure has problems…" his eyes darkened. "Gure is a fool. If only he would keep his intrigues in his books." The man looked distracted. Megu yawned. It was late. She excused herself and left Ayame in the quiet lobby.

* * *

"Hey, Ryu… do you suppose they thought Yuki was dead, freaked and stuffed him in the coffin?" Kyu murmured. Ryu let out a grunt. "Maybe the same thing happened with Akito…" Another grunt. Kinta was already snoring on his futon. Kyu was sandwiched between the other two. He gingerly removed Kinta's leg from his tummy. "Kyu, go to sleep…" Ryu muttered. It was late.

Kyu got up instead and accidentally stepped on Ryu's hand, much to his annoyance. "Kyu…" Ryu complained. "Hey, I see a light over there…" Kyu pointed out the window, in the direction of the Sohma compound over the hill. The faint flickering glow could only mean one thing.

* * *

"There was a fire. It was out of control by the time Shigure raised the alarm," the police officer said.

"Ow!" Kinta yelped when he burnt his palm on what could have been Hatori's filing cabinet. It was still too hot to search for clues. The two policemen were also waiting for the scene to cool down. Kinta ran out to cool his hand in the waters of the small moat outside.

"Any casualties?" Ryu asked as they studied the charred aftermath in the cold morning light. "Well, no deaths… but the doctor and his ward, Momiji, suffered smoke inhalation. Shigure hinted the doc may be more than depressed over the death of his patients…" Akechi left the words hanging. "Hiro and Kisa were rescued unharmed…" The children were sitting on the veranda of the house, staring glumly at the ruins of their home. Kisa's hair was a ragged mess.

"Momiji and Hatori are in the hospital. It appears that they may have had some drugs in their systems. My guess is not only the doc was popping pills…" the policeman consulted his notes.

"Momi didn't take any pills before bedtime. He did sneak a glass of Hatori's bedtime whiskey though," Hiro said. "The pills could be in the bottle…"

"What do you know, kid?" Sohma Mamoru growled a warning. "Hatori-san fell asleep after drinking his nightcap and Momi sneaked the bottle into our room," Hiro said. "Hatori-san wouldn't kill himself like that. He booked a trip to Tokyo Disneyland with us yesterday. He only told Momiji and me of the plans over dinner. It was to be a surprise for Kisa's birthday."

"That man has too many secrets for his own good," Ren muttered as she glided out into the courtyard adjoining Hatori's rooms. She was followed closely by Shigure. "His death would have been a relief to you, wouldn't it, Ren? All your dirty secrets turned to ash?" Ayame's voice sliced through the air like a blade.

Sensing imminent confrontation, Ryu glided off to the side. Kyu was standing in the doorway of a room Ryu recognized as Akito's. "Ryu, the mats here have been changed…" Kyu whispered as he pointed out three newer-looking tatami mats on the floor. They had not thought to examine Akito's room yet. Kyu quickly dove down to pocket a few strands of blondish hair caught on the older mats. The family quarrel behind them was in full swing.

"Aya, get out of here. You're not welcome," Shigure glared daggers. "We were friends once, Shigure. The three of us- Hatori, you and me. I am sad it has to end this way… You really should drop by the station, Shigure… Bail Haru-kun out, you know he is not involved in this mess…" Ayame continued. "As for you, Ren, haven't you done enough harm?" He would have continued if Kyo and Kagura had not chosen that moment to appear. Kagura was wearing a black dress.

"I see," Ayame's eyes flickered over the girl before resting on Ren. "You can't hide the truth, Shigure…" he said cryptically before leaving.

"Here's the picnic basket you wanted, Bro," Kagura held out a basket to her brother. "I made salmon onigiri… don't be too long out there…"

"Sure, baby sis…" Shigure took the basket from her. A disinterested Ren drifted into one of the rooms. Kagura took up a broom and started sweeping the yard. Kyo walked over to the detectives.

"So you guys ready for some trekking?" Kyo asked as he shouldered a knapsack. "I got lunch for four in here." He placed a basket on the ground.

"Hey, count us in too!" Hiro added.

"No kids! Go play dolls with Kisa-chan, brat," Kyo teased. "You're looking for Kureno, right? He's in the hills. Akito may have dumped him down a well," Hiro whispered wickedly. "_Ding-dong-bell, pussy's the well, _you know?"

"We don't have wells up there, brat!" Kyo playfully smacked at Hiro as the boy danced circles around them. Kisa started giggling. "We could let them join us, the more the merrier, right?" Kyu asked. Reluctantly, Kyo found himself adding two packed lunches to his kit.

They were scarcely out of the gate when they encountered Megumi. The young boy had a dowsing rod in his hands. "Kid here says he is trying out some mumbo-jumbo thingy," Kinta explained. "Wants to join us."

"It's dowsing. I haven't tried it before but my dad used it to find my mom's ring when she lost it in the woods. I am more a curse person. It could work," Megumi shrugged his shoulders. "Kazuma-sensei and my sis need some time alone…"

"What? Sensei wants time alone with Saki the witch?" Kyo blanched when he recalled that he was speaking to Saki's brother. Megumi only lifted his eyebrow a fraction of an inch. "Time's wasting. Let's go up the hills before sunset!" Kyu waved. They needed to check out the dump site of Akito's body and where the wheelbarrow used to transport it was dumped.

* * *

The day was surprisingly warm for autumn. The going was slow and they were forced to stop at the shelter where the wheelbarrow had been dumped. It was clear from the cravings on the nearby trees that Hatsuharu and Rin were frequent visitors.

"_Haru loves Rin, Rin loves Haru_… that is so lame…" Kyo complained. Behind him, Hiro was diligently adding his name and Kisa's to the trunk of a sturdy oak. "They should have run off together or something… could have if Haru weren't a minor…" Kyo kicked at a stone.

"Do you wish to elope with someone?" Hiro asked. "No way, Shigure will come after me with an axe… oh you little twerp!" The older teen clapped his hand over his mouth too late. Kisa was staring at him. "Tell him and die!" he hissed a warning to all present before chasing Hiro. Megumi was concentrating on his dowsing rod.

One moment the teen was closing in on Hiro, the next he was gone as if the ground had swallowed him up. "Help! Get me out of here!" Kyo's voice echoed from a deep shaft which had opened up.

"I thought there no wells here," Kyu exclaimed as he peered down into the darkness. Kyo was still yelling. Kinta lowered a rope down. "No, but we had mines here," Megumi explained. "Kureno-san could be down one…"

A shaken Kyo was hauled from the shaft. "I am not going back down there!" Kyo vowed. "Hey, Kinta, gimme your rope. I'm going to take a closer look!" Kyu shouted.

Kyu's search of the bottom of the three metre deep shaft only revealed a few discarded mining tools and small animal bones. A prior cave-in had sealed off any entry into the main mining system. The sides of the shaft were steep.

"I get nightmares about those…" Kyo was still shivering and sobbing. "I hate them… the darkness… trapped… yelling and no one coming to get you… _'don't leave me, dad'_…"

"This is not the first time you were down one, isn't it?" Ryu asked gently. It was obvious that their guide was in no state to continue. They had to return to the Sohma house or Saki's. "I don't know…" Kyo said. "Maybe Sensei will know… I can't recall…"

**Author's Notes:**

The plot thickens…


	13. Family Secrets

Disclaimer: All the Detective School Q and Fruit Basket characters belong to their respective creators.

**13. ****Family Secrets**

"How's Hatori-san?" Saki asked. Arisa had reluctantly returned to her father for now. Kyo's suggestion that Kureno might be dead had not sat well with her.

"Not too good. They have him on a ventilator and he's in a coma. He was taking some pills and I guess there was some adverse reaction with whatever poisoned him. Momiji's under observation…" Kazuma-sensei inspected the slight damage to his clothes. His hakama hem was lightly singed from the flames. "He was throwing up when I got Hatori and him out…" he coughed. Saki looked at him worriedly. "You should go see a doctor…" she poured him a cup of her herbal tea. Hopefully, it had purged the boy's system of whatever was poisoning him.

He shook his head. "I see," Saki nodded. "What were you doing there so late?" Kazuma-sensei had returned shortly after the fire, reeking of soot and smoke. He had not stayed after he ensured that everyone was out of the building. "Kagura would mention you being there to the police…"

"No, I left while she was busy getting the children out. I was getting this," Kazuma-sensei held out a portable hard drive. "It will never do for Kyo to know…" He quickly put it back when the boys came in.

"Know what, sensei?" Kyo asked. He had overheard part of the conversation. The group had dropped Kisa and Hiro off at the Sohma house. "I smell smoke on you, you have been at the fire," Kinta deduced. "Sensei, what the heck is going on?" Kyo demanded.

"Sensei, I believe it is time you fill us in on some details," Ryu said quietly.

* * *

"He confessed?" Narusawa Kazuma gaped. He stole a glance at the cherub-faced teen sitting forlornly in his hospital cot. Maki-sensei nodded. "He only admitted to adding some arsenic-laced insecticide to Akito's pills, and poisoning his previous guardian three years ago."

"He's not much older than me," Megu said. "The police will take into account his age as a minor and look into those allegations of abuse by his first guardian. There has been evidence of some cover-ups where the Sohmas are concerned," Maki looked at the pair of local cops taking Momiji's statement for the umpteenth time. "They knew or guessed at it but swept the whole mess under the carpet." There was no telling what other skeletons they would shake out.

"But he had an alibi for the time of Akito's death. No evidence ties him to Kureno's disappearance, Yuki's death or the fire. He had been drugged to some extent but not as bad as Hatori…" Maki flipped through the toxicology reports. "It seems a bit incredible that he could have dragged Hatori out alone all the same," he added.

* * *

"_My dad tried to kill me?" _Kyo exclaimed. Kazuma-sensei nodded solemnly. "I witnessed him shoving you down a mine shaft and got you out. Fortunately, you were not badly hurt. I also beat him up for almost killing you… You had nightmares and I got Hatori's dad to carry out their hypnosis on you…" Fearing the exposure of that event and any trauma Kyo would suffer, he had stolen the disc from Hatori's office during the fire. He had only glimpsed a dark shadow running away from the flames. He found Momiji trying to haul an unconscious Hatori out of the house, which was rapidly being consumed by fire.

"No wonder I had a flashback when I fell down that damned shaft…" Kyo muttered. He was white-faced. "Kureno could be down one of those and no one would know…"

"We could get dogs and comb the hillside!" Kyu suggested. "No dogs! The area is protected!" Kyo said. "Shigure will flip."

"My brother could use his dowsing skills…" Saki suggested.

Meanwhile, Ryu had taken the disc and was opening it on the PC. The contents were non-encrypted, an oversight on Hatori's part. It was a near complete medical record of all the Sohma family members for several generations. He scanned through the details. Yuki's parentage was affirmed by the records. His supposed father had undergone treatment for prostrate cancer after Ayame's birth and became sterile as a result. Ren had had a number of miscarriages and stillbirths before Akito. Kyo's status was given as adopted on his record. Something caught his eye. "Is Kagura-san adopted?"

"Why?" Kyo asked. "Because her supposed mom had a hysterectomy due to complications while giving birth to her son," Ryu said. "It should be stated in her file. Hatori and his father kept meticulous records," Kazuma-sensei said. They would have to turn the hard-disk over to the authorities if they asked.

"What's a hair-star-tomy?" Kyu asked in bewilderment. "It means she had her womb removed and can't have any more children," Ryu explained patiently. "Maybe Kagura's like Kaguya-hime," Kinta joked. "You know, that old legend about the woodcutter finding a baby girl in the bamboo grove?"

"All old stories have some truth to them, Toyama-san," Saki said enigmatically. Kyu's communicator sounded. It was Megu. She gave him an update on the situation at the hospital. "Any leads on where Kureno is?"

"Nope, but we think he may be stuck down some mine shaft…" Kyu said. "Could Kazuma-kun get a map of any mine works in the area?"

"No problemo!" Kazuma shouted over Megu's shoulder. "If it is on record, we will find it!"

"Kyu, let me speak to Megu and Maki-sensei. I have some evidence here that may support a cover-up of some sexual abuse in the family," Ryu unplugged the disk from the PC. There were some rather disturbing records which may concern the Sohmas. It might help Momiji's case or get him a lighter sentence.

* * *

"Shigure! I could kill you!" Ayame hissed. "Yuki, Hatori… what have you done?" Ayame was furious.

"Aya, I swear I didn't do anything!" Shigure whimpered. "Ritsu saw you and Kagura up and about that night when Yuki was killed. You had the demon masks from the storeroom, the same ones we used as kids to scare the girls during the school camp!" Kisa and Hiro glanced up from where they were watching TV reruns. The pair were to stay with Shigure and his sister for the time being as their guardian was still in hospital.

"It was just a prank, Aya… I didn't mean him any harm… We didn't expect him to crack his head running…" Shigure pleaded and tried to make his getaway down a flight of stairs. He had expected Ayame's wrath, but he had underestimated the magnitude of it. "A prank? Yuki's dead thanks to your little prank!" Ayame yelled and lashed out at Shigure. Shigure gave a stricken cry as his socked foot slipped on the top step. It was steep flight of stairs leading up to the second floor.

"Shigure!" Ayame reached out to grab him by the arm. It was too late. The novelist tumbled down the flight of stairs in front of a pair of horrified children.

"Oh my god, don't you dare die on me, Shigure!" Ayame ran down to where Shigure lay in a crumbled heap. He lifted Shigure's head into his lap. His cousin was breathing funny. His breath came in little gasps and wheezes. There was blood, too much blood…

"Hiro! Get an ambulance! Hurry!" Ayame yelled.

**Author's Notes:**

Yet another tragedy strikes the Sohma household.

Sorry for making little Momiji-chan a poisoner.

Kaguya-hime legend is the story of the baby girl who was found in a bamboo by a woodcutter. She grows up to be a beauty and sets impossible tasks for her suitors. In the end, it turns out she's fairy and needs to return to heaven.


	14. Tying up Threads

Disclaimer: All the Detective School Q and Fruit Basket characters belong to their respective creators.

**14. ****Tying up Threads**

"Shigure fell down the stairs?" Arisa asked. She had returned from her father's place in the hope of some news of her missing boyfriend. "No, he was pushed by Ayame, Yuki's brother," Saki clarified. "Ayame's in custody now." Kazuma-sensei and Kyo had returned to the Sohma house to help Kagura. Megumi looked up from his homework. "It was an accident. Hiro told me at school."

"Where's Kinta?"

"At the Sohma house," Megumi said.

* * *

Kazuma and Ryu were at the police station.

"Ayame admitted to quarrelling with Shigure and shoving him, but he refused to admit what they were quarrelling about," Akechi said. Behind the one-way mirror, Ayame sat with his arms crossed defensively across the table from Sohma Mamoru. It would most likely be deemed an accident. "The good news is that Hatori is awake and off the ventilator. He is groggy but appears to have no permanent brain damage at this point. Still, questioning him will have to wait."

"The statement taken from the boy Hiro suggests they may be quarrelling over Yuki's death," Ryu said. Maki-sensei had just informed them that Shigure was in the intensive care unit after undergoing emergency surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain. He was still in a medically-induced coma.

"Well, Ritsu came in to leave her, I mean his, statement. Seems he got up to use the loo on the night of Yuki's death to see Shigure and his sister leaving their rooms," Akechi scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Seems we may need to bring Kagura in for questioning."

"They are trying to cover up a lot of things in that family," Kazuma said from when he was working on the family's medical records and the town's birth and death registry. "Child abuse, affairs all that. I wouldn't be surprised if Ayame was covering up for Shigure. Ayame and Ritsu both have a rock-solid alibi for Akito's death. They were in Tokyo when Akito. So Akito's mom may not be Ren? And Kagura may not be Shigure's sister? One thing I noted is that Kagura and Akito's birth dates are within a week of each other."

"Well, I am not that close to the main house, but Shigure only strikes me as a prankster. Not much malice in him," Mamoru said. He had concluded his interview with Ayame. "He was only two years older than me in high school. I still remember the time Shigure and Ayame got nabbed for scaring the girls at the camp. I could believe it if Yuki's death were, as the kid Hiro states, some prank that went wrong."

"Maybe that was what happened in Yuki's case. But it does not explain Akito's death or the fire," Kazuma said.

* * *

Meanwhile at the Sohma family house, Kinta and Kyu had made a discovery in a nearby bush. Megu had gone over to the convenience store to buy some drinks. A cracked tea tray and some tatami mats were nestled in a thicket outside the house. The tea tray was of an exceptional quality of lacquer ware graced with cherry blossoms.

"Why do you think they hid these tatami mats and a tea tray here? Was it because of the bloodstains?" Kyu said as he fought to pull a mat out of a gutter. Kinta nodded. They hoped Ryu and the others were doing as well as them. Together, they managed to wrestle the mat free. The mats and tray would need to be tested.

Having handed the items over to the accompanying forensic officer, the pair entered the main compound.

"Hey, found anything useful?" Kyo stepped out of the charred ruin of Hatori's room. Kyo was clearing the place while Kazuma-sensei took the two children out. He was holding a pair of charred demon masks. "I wonder what these are doing here. I last saw them in Shigure's room. Hi, Kagura!" he waved to Kagura. "Aren't these your brother's?"

Kagura gasped and stopped, causing Ren, who was walking behind her, to bump into her. "No, they are not Shigure's," Ren replied.

At that moment, Megu returned with the drinks. She watched as Ren and Kagura walked away. "Kyu, is that lady Kagura's mom?" she asked quietly as she passed him a can of soda. Kyu blinked and looked at Kinta. The truth had been staring them in the face all this while. The trio stole a glance at the two women in the main courtyard. Ren was sitting under a tree on a bench. She seemed to be tying a bracelet around Kagura's wrist as a gift.

"Is Kagura in?" Sohma Mamoru knocked on the side of the doorway. "We need to ask her a few questions…"

"What do you want with her?" Ren snapped. Kagura started and paled visibly. Ren patted her on the shoulder.

* * *

A few hours later, Class Q received an update from the police. Kagura admitted to pulling a prank with her brother to scare Yuki. However, Yuki fell and bumped his head hard. Shigure then told her to go back to her room while he fixed Yuki up. She honestly thought that Yuki was alright and went to bed. "When they found his body in the casket, she didn't want to get her brother in trouble," Ryu said. Kazuma-sensei had invited them to stay for dinner as he had bought pork chops. Class Q were eating a light snack of senbei crackers on the veranda.

"So Yuki's death was accidental? But who moved the casket cover if Kagura didn't? Even I needed someone to help lift that heavy thing," Kinta said. "And we are nowhere near solving…" Kyu paused. Some movement in the bushes caught his attention. "Something is there!" he leapt off the veranda and ran over to the bushes. Kinta followed.

"Let me go!" Hiro kicked and yelped. Kinta had him by the wrist. A worried Kisa scrambled out. She was holding a slightly charred tin box. "What's that?" Kyu asked.

With trembling hands, the little girl tearfully held out the box. "Kisa! Don't!" Hiro shouted. Kyu took the box and opened it. Inside was a scissors with odd brown stains on the blades and matted tufts of hair the same colour as Kisa's.

Kyu knew they would test positive for blood, and probably match Akito's. "What happened to your hair, Kisa?" Megu asked gently. "Akito probably," Kyo's voice called out from a window. The teen clambered out. "That's what Akito's like, picking on the weak… Even if she did have anything to do with Akito's death, it was likely self-defence and he bloody deserved what he got!"

He stepped over to them and stood between Class Q and the children. "So what are you going to do about it?" he challenged.

"First, I think we need to find therapy if needed for Kisa if she has been abused. Secondly, as self-defence she will not be guilty of murder. Lastly, she couldn't have cracked him over the head with that pair of scissors or dumped him in the hills," Ryu countered.

"It was an accident! He was threatening her and she was trying to get away and the scissors slipped…" Hiro blurted out. "We're trying to sneak it out and toss it down a mine-shaft…" Kisa clung onto his elbow all this while.

"The cherry blossom tea tray…" Megu suggested. It could be the weapon used to hit Akito on the head. _If there were prints…_

"It was Kagura!" Hiro blurted. Kisa kicked him in the shin and Kyo lightly smacked him on the head. "A cherry blossom tea tray?" Kyo frowned. "That's from Akito's personal tea set… Hey, detectives, it is self-defence, isn't it, if you crack someone's skull trying to save a kid…" He looked worried. "When are they letting Kagura go?"

"Kagura did not dump Akito! She was in the compound the whole while!" Hiro added.

"It was probably her brother who tidied up," Kinta whispered. "Damn, we seem to be cracking cases except for the fire and Kureno."

"We don't know where Kureno is!" Kagura yelled. "And we didn't have anything to do with the fire!" She had returned with Hatsuharu and Kazuma-sensei. "We didn't mean for Yuki to be hurt… My brother suggested we scare him a bit as a prank. We didn't want him dead," she sobbed.

"Kagura, I am sorry, but I thought I saw you at the fire, before I went in to rescue Hatori…" Kazuma-sensei said slowly. "I only got there after the fire started! I didn't see you when I went in to get Kisa and Hiro. Only Hatori and Momiji out cold on the grass," Kagura said.

"What I saw was someone with long dark hair fleeing the scene," Kazuma-sensei said.

"Aunt Ren," Hatsuharu grunted. Everyone looked at him. "Aunt Ren is the only other person in this house who has long dark hair." He was right.

"Why would she want to hurt Hatori?" Kyo asked. "He is her doctor!"

"And he has her medical records," Kazuma-sensei said. "Including the records of her child. That child was not Akito. Akito's mother was someone else. Ren's child was you, Kagura. She was trying to protect you." Kagura sobbed at the man's words. Kazuma-sensei looked away regretfully.

**Author's Notes:**

The case is closing soon. Now they need to solve where Kureno is.


	15. Happily Ever After

Disclaimer: All the Detective School Q and Fruit Basket characters belong to their respective creators.

**15. ****Happily Ever After**

"Kagura admitted to hitting Akito over the head when he was attacking Kisa. She thought he was dead then and got Shigure to help. Obviously, Shigure thought the same and Akito ends up being tossed in the hills," Kyu studied the crimson leaves above his head.

"Strictly speaking, it was self-defence for Kisa. Accidental death. The worst charge would be disposing of a body for Shigure," Ryu admitted. "The same for Yuki, though I wonder if they could make a case against Kagura and her brother for caring him."

"Ren's trying to claim she was mentally disturbed when she set fire to Hatori's place. The cops found empty kerosene bottles in her room and sleeping tablets like those used to drug Hatori's wine," Kazuma yawned. "Does this mean case closed? OW!"

"No, pipsqueak, we need to find Arisa's man!" Kinta stressed as he gave Kazuma a monster of a noogie.

"Kureno is still missing. Kagura has no idea where he is. Ren is still playing the loony card. Everyone else has no idea…" Megu counted the points on her fingers. "We have one last mystery to solve…" Kyu leaned back onto the pile of fallen leaves. He closed his eyes and thought of the events that had occurred in the past few days. Megu leaned shyly over his face.

"Hey, do you recall Shigure going out into the hills with that picnic basket?" Kyu said and sat up so suddenly, he ended up locking lips with Megu.

_Hell with the case,_ he started kissing Megu and she kissed back. _Peck melted into lip lock…_

"Yoo-hoo! Kyu, did you say something about the case?" Kinta reminded. "Where is Kureno?" Arisa had emerged from the Hanajima house. Dark circles showed under her eyes. She had not been sleeping well since returning to the town.

"Er, uh…" Kyu fumbled and turned beet-red.

"The basket, Kyu…" Megu reminded.

"Right, Shigure was bringing food to the hills, I think he had someone locked up in the hills, possibly Kureno," Kyu said. "We need to comb the hills to find him."

"We better go it fast! We don't know if he has water there and it has been some time since Shigure last sent food," Ryu said. It could take days to do a thorough search. Kureno could be bare yards from them in a hidden mine shaft and they would not be any wiser.

"Call the cops for search dogs…" Kazuma suggested as he wriggled out of Kinta's arms. "I have a better idea," Saki said. She held out several dowsing rods.

* * *

"I found something!" Kyu poked his dowsing rod, up Megu's skirt. "Kyu!!!" Megu yelled and started chasing him. Ryu rolled his eyes in exasperation. They had several hills to search and a lot of ground, even with the old maps Kazuma managed to get on the mines. Kazuma-sensei volunteered to remain at home to look after the two youngest Sohmas since the adults of the main house were in the lock-up or in the hospital.

Kyo nudged Ryu. "Is he always like that?" he asked. Ryu nodded. Kyo had kindly volunteered to help find Kureno. The teen held his dowsing rod pointed at an odd angle. He was an amateur.

"I stepped on dog pooh!" Kazuma yelped as he hopped around on one foot. "Get a load of this!" Kinta whooped and lifted a necklace of an antique design from a bush. He waved his dowsing rod in triumph. "It's the second one I found!"

"Excuse me, we are looking for Sohma Kureno…" Saki reminded them. Megumi followed his sister's example, quietly holding the rod before him. The siblings had established a grid search they best they could given the rugged terrain. So far, it has been unfruitful. Arisa was calling out for her boyfriend and holding her dowsing rod out in great sweeps. Kyu ran smack into her, knocking her over. That was the lat straw for Uotani Arisa. She let out a shrill yell and grabbed a fallen branch from the forest floor.

"Kyu, now you have done it…" Kinta said. Kyu ran for his life with Arisa swinging the branch at him like a baseball bat. "Kinta! Save me!"

"Yikes!" Kyu tripped on something on the ground. "Wah! Don't kill me!" Arisa lifted her branch high. Kinta took her by the wrist. "That's enough, Arisa… I think Kyu found something." He pointed at the forest floor. Kyu had tripped over a rusty iron ring set in a stone trapdoor. "I found that?" Kyu rubbed his sprained ankle.

"It's just some rusty old ring…" Kyo said. "It probably it wouldn't even open." He touched the ring and was surprised to find it recently oiled.

"Someone has been working on this recently…" Kinta carefully brushed away the leaves and other debris on the trap door to reveal a pair of dead bolts. He slid them back and lifted the trapdoor. Below the trapdoor was a ladder leading down a shaft about ten metres deep. It was lit by a single torch. At the very bottom was a thin figure curled up in a foetal position. He seemed very dead.

"Kureno!" Arisa cried out in a sob. The figure at the bottom of the shaft stirred to everyone's relief. Kureno sat up. "Arisa?" he blinked weakly. "Is that you?" Arisa climbed down the shaft.

"Kureno!"

"Arisa!" the couple embraced.

"Get him some water," Ryu said. Kureno must be thirsty and hungry since no one has brought him any food or drink since Shigure's accident. "Do you need help to climb out?" he asked. The pair was too engrossed in each other. "Well?" Kinta asked. "I think that they need some time alone…" Ryu shrugged.

* * *

_A few weeks later, Tokyo…_

"Sh, I am working on my Christmas list…" Kazuma scrunched his brow up in concentration. "But it is like three months away…" Kyu said. "Well, I can get a head start right?" Kazuma said. Class Q were in their classroom after the successful closing of the Twelve Hills village case.

"I heard from Ritsu-san at Ayame's store that Rin's parents agreed to move her to a medical facility in Tokyo. Her boyfriend accepted a scholarship to attend a sports school in the city, if he could dodge that assaulting a cop charge. Ayame told me that Kazuma-sensei has proposed marriage to Saki-san. The wedding's scheduled for after Saki graduates from high school," Megu said. "I bought this cute dress from them. Like it?" She spun around in her new dress. The slits in the skirt were up to her buttocks.

"Sexy…" Kyu wolf-whistled. The door slid open.

"Good work, Class," Detective Dan entered the room. Everyone stood up to greet their principal. "Kazuma-sensei has been appointed guardian to Momiji, Kisa and Hiro. Kureno has been recognised as the next clan head. However, we have received a call from the Sohmas. Some people are missing."

"Who?" Class Q exclaimed.

"One Sohma Kureno, clan head, and Uotani Arisa…" Detective Dan grinned. "The only clue they left was a letter with Kazuma-sensei announcing their elopement. The clan elders want us to find them. Well, shall we take this case?"

"No!" Kinta exclaimed. Everyone else nodded.


End file.
